There is something missing from our world: the amazing animals that time has left behind.
But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?
We're going back in time on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurer Nigel Marvin plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction.
His plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
This time Nigel travels back to three different time periods to rescue two giant animals and two dwarf ones.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary.
Welcome to Prehistoric Park!
Chapter 4- Big and Small
Yoren the Neanderthal tribe leader had finally built up the courage to feed the Megalania. He threw chunks of meat with bone and grilse in it for the female giant lizard. It swallowed the chunks hole when they were thrown into the exhibit. Although Neanderthal culture respected all forms of life Yoren and quite a few others feared any carnivorous reptile larger than a boa constrictor. Nigel was happy that he was conquering his fears.
"I'll be able to join you soon," Yoren smiled throwing another chunk of flesh into the exhibit.
Nigel smiled and went to find Bob Arthur the head keeper. He was by the Spinosaurus exhibit watching the sailed giants sweep through the water with their giant snouts armed with sharp teeth.
Two Spinosaurs were saved from prehistoric Egypt by Nigel after a fight with the park's four Carcharodontosaurus.
"Hello Nigel," he said "How's Yoren doing?"
"Fine. It won't be long before he's feeding these two."
Bob walked with Nigel to his office that was a balcony over a small group of tropical trees. Unlike yesterday a fence had been erected around parts of the forest. It didn't stop Nigel however see the troublesome Borealosaurus poke their heads out of the trees in their reinforced enclosure.
"I'm guessing you're going to catch more creatures then," Bob said looking at the fence.
"Yes. Two giant animals and two small ones. One of the giants will be here. The other in the new enclosure near the crocodiles, the one with the pool and our small animals will be in that enclosure near Mammoth mount. I'm going to catch the animal for this enclosure first though."
"What is it?"
"Gigantopithecus blacki. A 3m tall ape from China 100,000 years ago."
The Gigantopithecus lived like a normal ape but was truly a giant. With Yoren Nigel will be travelling back to prehistoric China to rescue a few.
They were in a bamboo forest when they emerged from the portal. The sun was just rising in the distance so it meant they could have the entire day to find a troop of the colossal apes. Some nearby bamboo shoots were broken so the team decided to follow the bamboo path. Quickly the broken bamboo path grew wider so it looked like a troop possibly could have caused it.
"Gigantopithicus would have lived like modern day great apes such as gorillas and orang-utans so that means they would most likely live in troops. They would make dens to sleep like the apes so despite the size they are just like great apes."
Yoren was looking at the trail with extreme concentration. He was used to searching for large animals back in the Ice Age so he was in his comfort zone. Suddenly Yoren pulled something from a nearby bush. It was a sharpened stick. A spear.
"Homo Erectus. They lived in prehistoric Asia around this time and could be attributed to the extinction of these great apes. They would eventually evolve into Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals. If this spear is in the trail we might not have much time."
Back in Prehistoric Park Susan is doing a small examination on Martha the mammoth after she has started acting peculiarly.
Susan was holding a strange device in the shape of an egg on the stomach of Martha. A wire led from the shape towards a computer screen that ran on solar power so could be used outside. Martha was using her trunk to grab straw from Kate, Susan's assistant, and Chia, Yoren's daughter, and bring it towards her mouth.
"Our anonymous company supplied us with this portable ultrasound so we don't need to upset the animal's routine. I have a feeling however why she's been acting strangely."
An image then appeared on the screen. It was an ultrasound of a shape with four legs and a trunk. Susan smiled with giddiness.
"Looks like the park's breeding programme has worked. Congratulations Martha, you're going to be a mum!"
100,000 years ago Nigel and Yoren may be close to finding the Gigantopithecus den but so is another group of hunters.
There were four males staring at the group. They were a head shorter than the crew but were recognisably humans. They wore no clothes but held sticks with chiselled stones tied on the end for efficient hunting weapons. One pointed at the group and made a strange grunting noise. Communication.
"They can't speak like Sapiens or Neanderthals because of the larynax," Nigel explained "Our two species have it low in the throat so we can talk like we do but Erectus hadn't evolved it that low yet so they could only make limited sounds. Instead they would communicate with gestures."
The early humans did so and started making complex hand gestures to each other. The early humans were however frightful of the new comers to their area. One started to gesture the way they had arrived.
"Their fearful. I'll give them some supplies so they know we don't mean them harm and also they'll leave our apes alone."
Yoren opened a rucksack full of fruits and meats and threw it at the feet of the Erectus. As the early humans picked up the food and walked off with it Yoren gave his tribes sign of good look to them before ushering everyone to the ape den. The giant apes had made their den in a small clearing with gorilla like beds made of broken leaves. They looked like normal apes and were a dark orange in colour. One large male sat in the middle, obviously the leader of the troop. He stared curiously at the crew and walked on his hands like a gorilla towards them. He made similar chuffing noises as a gorilla as a sign of friendliness.
"He's curious about us. We have a new smell that they don't recognise."
The big male reached them and stood at his mighty 3m and brushed his hand over Nigel's hair, a typical ape greeting. Nigel stroked the palm as a sign of affection. The male made a grunt and the troop joined him. A baby jumped on Yoren and clung to his back. Nigel set up the portal as the apes looked curiously. When the portal was opened some apes jumped back in surprise but the eldest stared at it with curiosity. One touched the portal and when her finger passed through it she shrieked in delight. Soon the crew could easily usher the troop through the portal into the park.
Bob could easily herd the Gigantopithecus troop into their pen and were sitting in the enclosure with the apes playing around them.
A large male was stroking the top of Bob's head as he laughed. Bob gave the ape an apple which he instantly ate. A baby was clinging onto Susan as she gave it some small berries. Nigel was beaming, especially as he found out Martha was pregnant.
"I'll leave you with these enigmatic fellows. I need to catch our small animals: the Cypriot Dwarf Hippo and Elephant, 11,000 years ago."
"Nigel the company rang," Bob said "They're sending over another person to come see us."
Nigel left the Gigantopithecus and the news of the company to go to Cyprus 11,000 years ago. Back then many Mediterranean islands had dwarf versions of African animals but the ones in Cyprus were the most famous.
The island of Cyprus was exactly the same 11,000 years ago as it was today. The sun was high in the sky above the Mediterranean scrub. Birds sang in the trees filling the day with beautiful noise. A gecko slept on a rock but darted away as Nigel and Yoren walked past. Yoren's eyes were glued to the ground looking for footprints of the dwarf animals.
"Both species became extinct shortly after humans arrived here. The small size allowed humans to easily catch them and they were soon overhunted," Nigel explained.
A trickling sound could be heard from nearby. Hopefully it was a river where they could find the hippo. Some trees blocked their view of the river but they could hear it. They managed to squeeze past the trees to get at the river. The sun was reflected off of the surface of the river making it look like diamonds flowing down the land. Yoren knelt by the river and splashed water onto his face. A frog jumped into the river and made a little splashing sound. Only if it was a hippo. Then Nigel saw the footprints. They were in rows on the riverbank in the characteristic shape of a hippo foot except it was a third of the size. Nigel nudged Yoren and they followed the path of the footprints. Quickly it did not take them to find multiple brown shapes bobbing at the surface of the river.
"There they are. Dwarf hippos were found on many Mediterranean islands from Malta to Corsica but the Cypriot ones were the most famous. They're about the same size as the modern day pygmy hippos from Africa."
Six adults and two young were swimming in the river. Nigel knew however how to catch the hippos but he would have to wait for night so he went in search of the elephant. A nearby scrub was the perfect place to find some and luckily a herd were walking from it to find a drink. A male was also with the herd so the park could have possibly a breeding herd.
"Look how lucky we are with this. Like the hippos they were found from Corsica to Malta but Cyprus was where they ruled. They're only half my height."
The elephants may have been half his height but the tusks that they had were at least a metre long so could do some damage. Nigel quickly set up the portal so the thirsty elephants quickly went through the portal. Now it was only a matter to wait until dark.
Dusk came after many long hours and Nigel's plan was falling into place. The hippo herd had emerged from the river and were grazing on the side of the bank. Nigel stood in a small path of flattened grass setting up the time portal.
"Soon the hippos will finish grazing there and come down this path. Like their larger cousins they come out at night to graze and will come down this path to graze some more."
In an hour the hippos had tired of grazing by the river and moved towards the path. Nigel opened the portal and the hippos walked through the portal. Nigel smiled and immediately followed them.
When the elephants and hippos have been moved Bob has decided to meet Nigel outside their exhibit.
The elephants were grazing on a nearby bush while the hippos were swimming in the pool Bob and made for them.
"Tiny aren't they?" Bob said "So what's this new creature you plan to get?"
"A snake called Titanoboa. It lived 50million years ago in Colombia and was 1m high while at the same time was the length of a bus."
As Bob gets over his disbelief Nigel heads to Eocene Colombia to capture the largest snake ever known. After the dinosaurs went extinct they left a giant hole that the snake filled.
Nigel stood by a river searching for the colossus in the water. A turtle could be seen swimming on the surface.
"Titanoboa would have eaten turtles and crocodiles so we should find it in water and whoa…"
A giant head snapped up the small soft shelled turtle and swallowed it. It was a gigantic snake that did it. Another swam past it looking for food. It was smaller indicating a female. Nigel placed the portal on the verge of the bank and grabbed a stick. He started hitting the surface to attract the snake towards him.
"Sometimes I wonder why I place myself as bait."
As the snake lunged the portal was activated and it disappeared into the future. Nigel closed it and repeated it for the male. Two snakes were now in the park so Nigel decided to follow them. In minutes Nigel was watching the snakes in their enclosure swimming in their pool.
"Truly massive. That's why I love my job."
Bob ran up to him panting and trying to explain something. After he had calmed down he started to tell Nigel the urgent news.
"The boss of the company is here!"
They ran to the docks to see Lionel Thorpe once again except he was standing next to an old man. In fact the old man looked like John Hammond from Jurassic Park. Then Nigel saw Thorpe's briefcase. It was a new one and had InGen written on the side. Nigel then realised.
"Hello there," the old man said "My company is InGen and I am John Hammond."
He then explained how the books and films were exaggerated stories of the truth and that the original park was destroyed years ago with the creatures.
"This park however is an example of how it can work. You know what to do when I didn't so I paid the price. All I ask if you can continue as you were and if some of my crew can work here."
"Okay then," Nigel said.
"I'm also an old man now," Hammond sighed "I was hoping that I could spend my final years living here as well. May I? I can sleep in any accommodation."
"You can stay," Nigel said "We have a spare house in the main complex for you to live. We built it in case someone wanted to always live here that wasn't one of Yoren's tribe."
Now with John Hammond himself at the park and more coming the ark has finally settled down. For now…
New Arrivals:
2 Titanoboa
20 Gigantopithecus
8 Cyprus Dwarf Hippos
12 Cyprus Dwarf Elephants
Next time Nigel travels back to rescue the giant Pterygotus as more of the Jurassic Park crew turn up. All next time on Prehistoric Park.
Special thanks to Dunk234, AnimaNinjaFan and AwsomeDude4
