We interrupt your regularly scheduled program with this urgent
news bulletin: Pond clan has gone missing!
It’s been nearly a month now since
Pond clan has gone underground, and authorities are still unable to track down
any leads to their new den of residence or where the adults and subadults have
been living. Ever since December, sightings of the clan had become less and
less frequent until by late February they were almost exclusively found just at
the communal den.
Sadly, this tenuous connection was
lost when the clan up and vanished without a trace from the den in early March.
The police investigation found no sign of forced entry at the den, and all
local lion prides were verified to have been sleeping at the time. In an
exclusive interview, the neighboring warthog family states that they had heard
nothing but the usual giggling and whooping.
Theories abound as to why and where
the clan has disappeared, but our experts believe that shifting territorial
boundaries and the explosion of tall grass caused it.
The shifting of boundaries started in November the
neighboring Fig Tree clan pushed nearly a kilometer into Pond territory. This
loss possibly precipitating the hostile take over that Pond clan engaged in
against KCM clan, taking nearly a square kilometer of KCM territory. And these
are just the territory shifts that we knew of before the long grass grew.
Pond clan territory on January 9th |
Pond clan territory April 7th |
Before February, the grass in pond likely measured about
10cm high, however after heavy rains in late January the grass rocketed up to
nearly a meter tall. The grass is now so thick it could hide the entire clan together
without a trace. The tall grass has also caused the ungulates to leave the area,
“Tall grass isn’t very palatable for us and many other ungulates,” says Ms.
Thompson Gazelle, and ex-resident of Pond territory, “not to mention dangerous,
with predators possibly lurking everywhere.”
In these desperate times we ask you, the public, in helping
us in the search, if anyone has information please call your local hyena
research camp at the toll free number of 1(800)-698-POND.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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