Chapter 24- a tour of the area
Later
Sandalwood and the others all sat by themselves under a shrub, sulking and still shedding tears. Around them, the daily activities of the animals living in the enclosure of the conservation area which Sandalwood and the others now know to be called the Sanctuario del Paradíso, and the human carers, called the 'Sanctuario del Paradíso Foundation' workers as noted to them by Flax and Harakeke the kiwis, continued to flow by. In the trees, monkeys, birds and other arboreal animals played, kids chased each other and adults chatted. Happiness seemed to be teeming all around Sandalwood and company who seemed to be the only group that was miserable. As Kiara the echidna, Flax, Harakeke, the three cockatiels and Reepicheep the platypus escorted the group to the shrub, Sandalwood had requested that the group be left alone. Kiara granted the group's request but told them that they will be having a tour of the area after feeding time and left, leaving Sandalwood and company to get to grips with their location.
Sandalwood and company missed their parents and siblings and relatives dearly and wondered how they were feeling back in Rio. Utterly devastated and heartbroken, they presumed. Furthermore, Sandalwood continued to blame himself for getting himself and his friends into this whole mess. First with his fear of flying by going off with the wrong group (Isabella and her comrades) and then this, sneaking off after a curious thing only to be caught by a crow, leading to a wild chase of his captor by his parents to outside the sanctuary's fence and subsequently a violent confrontation with Marco and his gang leading to Sandalwood and the others getting caught by poachers. As these thoughts boiled within his mind, the guilt also boiled in Sandalwood and he began to break down in tears again. His wings went to his face and he began to sob, especially after he heard one of the chicks, Vega, say, "We feel so lost and alone… in an unknown place, folks."
"Far away from our home country… and our parents and relatives," said Petunia in an edgy voice, a tear falling from her left eye. Nearby, Betelgeuse and Rigel observed the activities of the other animals as they played, talked and did other things. 'They look so happy, and yet we're down on the dark forest floor,' thought Betelgeuse despondently. Rigel, however, continued to silently watch the animals as her mind was enveloped by a storm cloud of depression and other emotions of sadness and fear. Next to the sisters and the daughters of Io and Sheldon, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were pacing back and forth sadly, Mintaka picking the flowers from the shrub and her brothers just gazing at the floor, wings behind their backs. Gladion, Lillie, Procyon, Canopus and the rest of the group including Acerola were just loitering around doing nothing, their misery weighing them down like a massive boulder. Just then, Procyon saw some flashes of colour zoom towards the group.
"Oh, here come Sylvester, Altair, Alegria and Pitaya," he said, and pointed a wing at them. At this, Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix, Acerola, Spica and the rest of the gang followed the blue-and-gold macaw chicks' point and saw four chicks, one red, orange, yellow, blue and burgundy, another a lime green and yellow with red skin enclosing her eyes and partly her beak, the third a metallic purple and green four-winged bird and the fourth a purple, pink and aqua blue, rush in towards them. Relief flowed through Sandalwood's group as the quartet, which were indeed Sylvester, Altair, Alegria and Pitaya, touched down before them. However, the faces of all four were saturated with bitterness, outrage and disgust.
"At least none of YOU guys didn't have to face what WE went through at the hands of those humans while they examined us," snapped Sylvester sourly, making the relief of Sandalwood and the others fizzle out and shoot the Cuban macaw chick and the other three a surprised gaze.
"You won't BELIEVE how they handled us and that," grumbled Alegria, her bright green and yellow feathers puffed out with rage. Altair nearby straighten out his spiky crest by brushing his wing claws over them for they were all over the place. Pitaya just stood nearby, her face laced with disgust as well.
"What happened?" asked Sandalwood, the others standing around him with curious looks on their faces. Lillie and Gladion, however, bore more sympathetic looks. At this, Sylvester shot Sandalwood a bitter glare, making the bat pup flinch harshly as though he expected the Cuban macaw chick to lunge at him.
"You wanna know?" he retorted, "After we were taken out of this place to some sort of room, we were fussed over by those humans who sounded overly enthusiastic about our species."
"Yes, they took us out of that foul cage against our wishes," growled Alegria, "Handled us roughly in their excitement, took pictures of us using those slab things (Ipads), we hated it."
"One of the studiers sounded like he spoke Spanish," said Altair, "And based on what he said in his enthusiasm through Pitaya's translation for she is fluent with that language," he nodded to the purple-and-pink macaw chick who nodded in agreement, "he was excited in having three creatures that are supposed to be extinct plus one that appeared to be a newly discovered species of macaw and would like to find each of us a partner so that when we become adults, we could have chicks of our own."
"And thus establish a family of Cuban macaws, Dominican macaws, archaeobirds and purple-and-pink macaws HERE," said Sylvester, gesturing with a talon to indicate the artificial jungle. Sandalwood, Sirius, Acerola, Gladion, Lillie and the rest listened to the four's story, their mouths wide open and eyes inflated in disbelief.
"So they want you four to become breeding birds for this place?" asked Spica.
"Whatever that means," said Pitaya, "It would seem so but we're too young to understand that subject."
Then Alegria stormed off and kicked a flower petal bitterly, making Mintaka, along with Alnitak and Alnilam, back away from the infuriated Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick.
"Well, when I grow up and have chicks of my own," she snarled, her chartreuse eyes blazing yellow-green fires, "I would like it to be in our home, in a natural environment, not in some wretched… stupid… manmade replica of one like this miserable place is!"
As she angrily stomped off, like she usually did when exasperated, Acerola came forward.
"While you four were away," she said, "We've met the leader which is a giant rhea-like bird."
"Yes, and what did that bird say?" asked Sylvester, Altair and Pitaya flanking him with sour-faced looks.
"You're not gonna believe this but this place is called the Sanctuario del Paradíso, or 'Paradise Sanctuary'," said Sirius.
At this, the sourness on Sylvester, Altair and Pitaya's faces flashed from bitterness to disbelief.
"The WHAT!?" blurted out Altair. Nearby, Alegria continued to rant and rail.
"Well, paradise or not, this place is a MISERABLE, ROTTEN SO-CALLED…" she bellowed and with that, the little Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick raised a wing and was about to swipe at a flower on the shrub and launch into a full-blown hissy fit when a voice said, "Hey, you lot."
At this, Alegria froze and shot a glance at the speaker. When she saw that it was an echidna accompanied by the three cockatiels, the platypus and the two kiwis all carrying something, she snapped out of her frenzied rage and joined the group. Sandalwood and the others gathered around the seven animals.
"Kiara?" said Sirius with surprise.
"We've brought you lunch," said Kiara and with that, she nodded to the kiwis and Reepicheep and they came forward, a very large leaf bulging with something, trailing behind them. Sandalwood and the others' eyes widened in awe. Leaf bags were frequently used by their tribes and clans including the Brazilian flying foxes back in the Sanctuary de Amazon to carry more fruit than usual to save plenty of trips to and from a grove. However, the leaf bags used by the residents of this artificial jungle were larger and Sandalwood and Acerola saw that the bag dragged in by Flax, Harakeke and Reepicheep consisted of slender leaves woven tightly together with very tough material like coconut fibres. There were plenty of these large leaf bags scattered throughout the artificial jungle and they were used by the animals to drag food about or as hammocks to relax in, indicated by some of the tree mammals lying in a few of them tied between the trunks of some trees close together. Then Flax opened the large leaf bag, revealing a colourful pile of fruit and nuts Sandalwood and company recognised.
"Some of this fruit and these nuts are provided to us by our human carers," explained the kiwi as he took out a papaya with a foot, "The rest is provided by the artificial jungle trees."
"It's clever how this place is put together isn't it?" said Harakeke. At this, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Cytosine and Guanine smiled. Sandalwood, Thymine and the others, however, did not look as pleased, especially Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya who gazed disdainfully at the fruit in the large leaf bag. Kiara then took out a mango and some berries and offered them to the group.
"You must be hungry by now," she said.
"You haven't had a thing since you arrived here," said one of the cockatiels, Sparky. Sandalwood, at this, hesitated but then slowly extended his membranous wings and took then mango from Kiara's forepaw. Sirius and Bellatrix also took the bunch of berries from Kiara's other forepaw and slowly began to eat. Cody and Lilo, the other cockatiels, then took out more fruit from the leaf bag and handed them to the other chicks. When they came to Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya, Lilo offered the first one a couple of guavas but Sylvester, resentment and exasperation against the human carers for handling him and the other three roughly in their excitement still boiling within him, sourly and disdainfully turned his face away, his blue, red and burgundy wings crossed like a moody bratty chick.
"Hey, you haven't eaten anything since you got here pal," said Lilo firmly, "Have some lunch."
She held the guavas out to Sylvester but the Cuban macaw chick refused to take it. Pitaya, Altair and Alegria also turned their backs on Cody and Sparky when they offered them some fruit.
"We're not hungry," snapped Altair rudely.
"Okay, if you want to collapse from hunger, then so be it," said Sparky firmly, "Have some lunch."
Nearby, Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica, as they ate, gazed at the quartet.
"Please, do as the cockatiels say," said Spica gently, a guava and some nuts in her wings. At first, Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya did not reply until finally, they relented but they rudely snatched the fruit out of the cockatiels' wings and stormed off to disdainfully chow down the food like gannets. Lilo looked on with slight disgust at the four's attitude.
"Talk about an attitude problem," she muttered.
"They didn't even say thank you," put in Cody in annoyance.
"They've only just returned from their examination," explained Achernar as he sat with Capella and Antares, eating a pre-chopped up coconut from a shell.
"Yes, based on their experience," said Antares, "It sounds that they were handled roughly."
Flax and Harakeke then gazed at Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya as they grumpily shoved down the fruit.
"Well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised," said Flax, "The Cuban macaw and the Dominican macaw, according to one of the hyacinth macaws that live here, are extinct species, while the dinosaur-like bird is thought to have died out with the dinosaurs."
"Not to mention the fact that the purple and pink macaw is totally unheard of," said Kiara, her eyes on the incredibly sour Pitaya as she shoved down a large lump of fruit. Sandalwood and Acerola, Gladion, Lillie, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris gazed at the quartet as did Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine, Betelgeuse and Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and Canopus, Procyon, Castor and Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares, Aldebaran, Gertie, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, and Carmen as they all continued to eat and did not reply. As the group continued eating, Kiara said, "We're going to give you guys a tour of the area, as ordered by Dundee, after you lot have finished."
"A tour?" repeated Saiph with his mouth full of mango.
"Don't talk with your mouthful," scolded Gertie, making the only son of Aiden and Blueberry shoot her a startled look.
"Yes, it's not polite," said Reepicheep with an amused smile. He then moved on.
"Anyway, we haven't learned your names yet," said the platypus, "Can you each tell us your names?"
"I'm Sandalwood and this is my cousin Acerola," said Sandalwood. Acerola just nodded.
"I'm Sirius and this is Bellatrix, and Spica, and Vega, and…" said Sirius as he pointed from one macaw to the next, starting at Bellatrix before going to Spica and Vega and so on. The other kids also gave their names, including the still-bitter Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya. After this, Kiara and the other six smiled.
"Quite an interesting assortment of names," said the echidna in fascination.
"Our parents chose those names," explained Regulus as he sat with Denebola eating some nuts, "Some of us are named after stars; Sandalwood is named after a type of tree…"
"I see," said Lilo with an intrigued smile. however, as Regulus mentioned the group's parents, his face fell and a tear welled in his eye as thoughts about Charon and Neytiri, his and Denebola's parents, flashed in his head. The other chicks, Sandalwood and Acerola also wept as they continued to eat.
"We would love to hear about your parents but that will have to be later," said Flax, "We've got to introduce you lot to this place first, along with the animals."
Sandalwood and the other 39 sighed and continued tearfully, or in Alegria, Sylvester, Altair and Pitaya's case, disdainfully, eating their fruit and nuts. After the last of the berries had been downed and some water given in coconut and lightweight stone cups had been downed to wash down the meals, Sandalwood and the others prepared themselves for the tour.
Sometime later, Sandalwood and company were led by Kiara, Reepicheep, the three cockatiels and the kiwi cousins through the artificial jungle. Around them, various animals, many of which were part of rare and endangered species, decorated the trees, the floor and the trunks as well as the air. These animals ate, chatted, raised young and played. The activities of the animals gripped the heartstrings of the group as they were reminded of the activities of play in their own tribes and clans and some also began to shed more tears, including Pitaya, Sylvester, Alegria and Altair despite the sourness still lingering in the backgrounds of their moods as they began to yarn to be back with their own species and playing with them and the flying foxes and birds of the other tribes and clans back in Brazil. Sandalwood and Acerola were especially squeezed by sadness as they deeply missed home as well, and the mood was mirrored on the other kids.
"This entire area is ours," explained Kiara, pulling Sandalwood and the other kids pout of their thoughts, the echidna gesturing with her front paws to the artificial jungle, "It's especially built for birds, mammals and certain replies such as us. But this area is not the only area of the Sanctuario del Paradíso."
Reepicheep then appeared and put his webbed forefeet and limbs around Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion, Lillie and Sirius's shoulders, much to their surprise.
"The Sanctuario del Paradíso is massive," he said with a proud grin under his duck-like bill, "And it is divided into many compartments."
"Each built specifically for a variety of animals," said one of the cockatiels, Sparky as he walked with Cody and Lilo, "There's a compartment for larger animals like the giraffes and rhinos…"
Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine and his three siblings blinked. They were aware of the notorious problem rhinos faced with poachers in Africa, especially for their horns and had read it in a book of animals of the world back in the Sanctuary de Amazon. Then Rigel, who walked with Betelgeuse, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka around her, asked a question.
"Is this jungle built for our species the only place in this building?" she asked. At this, Kiara frowned, as did Reepicheep, the cockatiels and the kiwis.
"No, there is another compartment built next to ours," she said but her frown faded, "But we'll get to that later."
And with that, she led the group on. The red macaw chicks exchanged confused glances.
"I didn't like the way she frowned at that question," said Alnitak.
"Maybe that compartment might have some dangers associated with it?" asked Canopus. However, the only answer he got to this question was a series of shrugs from the other five. As the group continued walking through the jungle, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica spotted a group of three monkeys as they ate from one of the fruit trees. These primates were a very unfamiliar species the group had never at all seen before. Their fur was a shade of sandy brown, pale amber and gold colour around the head and body but their limbs and tail were silvery greyish, the amber colour fading to those colours down the limbs. But what really caught the attention of Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix and also Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine were the noses of the creatures. The noses resembled a large teardrop-shaped appendage hanging from below their eyes but the seven macaw chicks noticed that the feature in one of the three monkeys was smaller than the other two.
"Those three are extremely rare proboscis monkeys," explained Harakeke to the seven macaws, "They come from regions of Central Asia such as Indonesia."
"There's a troop of up to ten of them plus babies," said Flax.
"We've never seen primates like those three before," said Sirius, intrigue briefly sparking.
"There are plenty of extremely rare and critically endangered primates that reside here," said Cody, "Many of which have been rescued by poachers by our human carers, the Sanctuario del Paradíso staff."
"Have those big nosed monkeys been victims of poachers?" asked Petunia as she walked with Vega, Polaris and Deneb.
"Three of them have," said Lilo, "The rest of them were brought here for breeding purposes for those three rescued monkeys."
"Breeding?" asked Acerola confused. Kiara smiled.
"I'm afraid you're a bit too young for me to explain that at the moment," she said gently, "When you're older, we'll get to that grown-up topic."
Acerola stared at Sandalwood and the chicks, confusion lacing her face. She had always been curious about how babies came to be and had asked Sebastian and Anabelle that same question but she, along with Sandalwood and several of the chicks when they asked their parents that question had given the same answer. Deciding that the subject was not important and also pointless in asking about it anyway, Acerola moved on. Soon, the group entered an area where a group of parrots, bats and other exotic birds like toucans lived. The sounds of parrot calls and flying fox screeches ringing in the air pulled greatly at Sandalwood and company's heartstrings again and they flinched.
"This is the zone where you lot will be staying," explained Kiara as a pair of large hyacinth macaws flew over the group's heads, much to the anguish of Gertie and Mira as they were reminded of their parents Indigo and Victor and Trixie and Enceladus. In the trees in this area, colourful forms of various parrots and toucans decorated the green and brown balls of leaves and branches. Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka saw a small group of scarlet and green-winged macaws chat and eat in one tree; Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira and Fomalhaut spotted a group of aqua blue and yellow macaws with green foreheads, some of which were chicks, play some sort of ball game with a fruit shell, light-hearted laughter escaping their beaks; Capella, Achernar, Antares and Aldebaran spotted a small group of small green macaws with blue, red and yellow areas, markings, wings and tail in another tree also chatting; and Carmen saw a trio of blue-throated macaws on the ground talking with some toucans which Lillie and Gladion also saw. The group also spotted one or two cockatoos including a galah, a cockatoo that was pink and grey and was native to Australia, many smaller species of parrots, some rare corvids and a variety of other birds. Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Saiph, Denebola, Regulus and Arcturus then began to scan the area for any blue or cerulean birds like them but to their dismay; the only blue macaws they spotted were a small group of hyacinth macaws.
"Aren't there any Lear's, Spix or glaucous macaws here?" asked Arcturus. As she asked this, Sandalwood and Acerola's eyes found a group of large fox-faced bats hanging upside down and chatting in another tree. Kiara then prepared to answer Arcturus's question, a sad look on her face.
"I'm afraid you nine might be the only Lear's, glaucous and Spix macaws living here at the moment," said Kiara, much to the immense disappointment of the nine macaws.
"Our human carers might try and find some more of those macaws for this place for you nine," said Lilo before her eyes rested on Arcturus, "Especially a Lear's macaw since you might be the only one currently here," her eyes then travelled to Altair, Alegria, Sylvester and Pitaya, their sour looks having returned once again, "Just like how you four will be needing another of your species for that grown-up purpose as well."
Sad sighs, at this, escaped from the beaks of Sirius and company as the wishes that their parents were here returned. Then Kiara called to one of the birds and flying foxes, pulling Sirius and the others out of their thoughts. Within moments, several pairs of wing flaps, two made from membranous wings, reached the group's ears, followed by the placement of talons and feet on the grass as two scarlet macaws and two flying foxes touched down and walked over to Kiara. As the quartet greeted the echidna, Sandalwood and Acerola examine the two flying foxes. To their surprise, they saw that these bats had golden brown body fur and greyish facial fur. Brazilian flying foxes came in a variety of colours ranging from pale reddish to bright amber, as in Sandalwood's case, through brown to very dark chocolate brown. The only exceptions were Sebastian, Stella and Luna who had white fur and greyish white wings due to albinism but these two flying foxes, along with some of the other flying foxes, appeared to have the same pelage colours of grey heads and golden brown bodies. However, Sandalwood and Acerola spotted several other flying foxes with different fur colours, indicating that they were of other flying fox species. The two pups, along with Ferdinand, had seen in Bia's book of animals that there were other flying fox species outside Brazil.
"They're grey-headed flying foxes of Australia," whispered Adenine to Sandalwood and Acerola.
"Are they?" asked Acerola. Just then, the group found themselves standing face to face with the pair of bats and scarlet macaws. Kiara and Reepicheep stood alongside them.
"These four are Shade and his mate Sadie," said the echidna, gesturing to the grey-headed flying foxes, "And Greg and his mate Sardonyx. They are going to take you into their little clan of birds and flying foxes."
Reepicheep then introduced the quartet to the chicks and the two pups. The male flying fox then stepped forward and extended a wing to Sandalwood, Acerola and Sirius.
"Hi, little dudes," he said in an Australian-laced accent similar to that of Kiara, Reepicheep and the three cockatiels, "I'm Shade and this is my mate Sadie. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Sandalwood, at this, shyly raised a wing and interlocked it with the flying fox's, shaking it. Both Shade and Sadie had grey heads and deep golden brown fur. Their wings were coloured brownish and Shade was stockier than Sadie. Shade had brown eyes while Sadie's eyes were blue. The scarlet macaw couple, Greg and Sardonyx, were both red like all scarlet macaws. However, Sardonyx's plumage was rather unusual. Her red plumage was more red-orange, similar to Katniss Callisto and Jupiter, Canopus's sister, mother and grandfather respectively but this scarlet macaw's plumage was very red-orange. Greg, however, was deep red like Rigel, Betelgeuse, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. He was stocky with green eyes while Sardonyx was slim with some curvature and had auburn eyes. Both macaws had very small crests, merely a flick of feathers atop their crowns. Then Alnitak and his triplet brother and sister noticed something on Sardonyx's side. It appeared patchy, the feathers not very tidy and uniform in that area, much to the surprise of the two brothers and sister and the others. When she saw the surprise in their gazes, Sardonyx smiled and covered her patchy area.
"Oh, I've been in a bit of a tussle with a certain reptile a few days ago," she said shyly, "The feathers will grow back in a few days."
"Tussle?" repeated Sirius confused.
"What sort of tussle?" asked Saiph as he stood with Denebola and Regulus. At this, Shade came up to the group.
"We'll explain after your tour with Kiara," he said, "In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your induction."
"Yep, it's important to get to know this place," said Sadie with a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you guys though, her gaze rested on Sandalwood and Acerola, "Especially you two."
Acerola gave a slight nod but Sandalwood remained there, silent with tears threatening to well in his eyes again. The chicks also stood there, some with tears threatening to well also.
"They were all rescued from poachers like most of the other animals here," explained Flax.
"Oh, poachers, horrible humans they are," hissed Shade bitterly.
"All four of us have been captured by poachers as chicks and pups as well," said Sadie, "It was a devastating time," her face then changed from bitterness to a look of joy, "But thanks to these caring humans, we've been rescued and now we're safe and sound in this place."
Just then, the quartet heard a call from a hyacinth macaw. At this, Shade and Greg flashed the macaw a glance.
"Oh, aye, we're needed," said Shade before turning to Kiara with a smile, "We're sorry to cut this introduction short."
"You lot carry on with the tour and when you guys return," said Sardonyx, a bright smile to Sandalwood and company, "We'll give you lot a proper intro to ourselves and our families."
"You'll really love it here," said Shade.
"Yep, Sanctuario del Paradíso certainly does live up to its name for all of us here," said Sadie and with that, the two grey-headed flying foxes and two scarlet macaws left, leaving Kiara and the others to continue the tour.
Sometime later, after meeting some of the other animals, Kiara and company finally came to the part Sandalwood and the others had been waiting for, the other compartment Kiara briefly mentioned when Rigel asked about the artificial jungle the group was in being the only compartment in this part of the conservation area. As the group approached the outskirts of that compartment, Sandalwood and company saw two silvery mesh barriers with a path of the human visitor area running between them divide the current compartment from another. In that compartment running from the second mesh barrier, Sandalwood and company saw another artificial jungle but its design was different to the jungle in which they were in. Trees were scattered throughout that compartment but then the two flying fox pups and 37 chicks saw several logs and burrows dotting the area here and there and Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka saw a couple of the humans move something within the area. When they looked at what they were shifting closely, they realised that it was organic and based on its shape; it appeared to be a four-footed animal. The triplets shuddered and backed away as Kiara began to explain, a stern frown on her face.
"This," she said, gesturing a forepaw to the beginnings of the other compartment, "Is where a variety of rare and endangered meat-eating animals, amongst some species that are still fairly common, are kept. Many of them are small wildcats from Africa and Asia, such as the serval…"
"What's so dangerous about that area?" asked Sirius timidly and in a squeaky voice as Bellatrix and Spica flanking him shuddered at the decrepit looking jungle opposite the two barriers and path. It clearly resembled a barren death zone even though a variety of trees grew in there. Reepicheep the platypus then came forward, a look of sternness glazing his face.
"Those cats and other animals within that area are extremely dangerous to us, especially the birds and the monkeys," he said in a low voice that made the skins of Sandalwood and company crawl with fear and unease, "Any bird that is unfortunate enough to end up in there would become easy prey to those carnivorous mini-beasts."
Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Spica and Bellatrix's eyes blinked with surprise at Reepicheep's use of the ecology word meaning 'meat-eating'.
"That bizarre egg-laying mammal knows the word 'carnivore'?" whispered Adenine under his breath with surprise.
"One of the leaders in that compartment is an African caracal called Carnassial, and he's the patriarch of a small group of those small wildcats," said Cody, his face also creased into a stern look.
"He and many of his underlings absolutely adore eating birds and small mammals including bats alive," said Lilo, "A cockatoo foolishly strayed into that Compartment of the Carnivores as we've named it," she nodded to the indoor land through the two barriers, "And was caught and devoured by those caracals and some of the servals…"
This made Sandalwood and company's bodies tremble like jellies. Lillie and Gladion, eyes inflated with fear, slowly ducked behind Mira and Gertie whose faces were also laced with immense fear and even Altair, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya felt fear rupture their shell of bitterness. Based on the description of those small cats from Africa, the description of the infamous and late Brutus, the cat that led the band of smugglers' cats and his behaviour flashed in the minds of Sandalwood's group for they had been told about that cat and his violent behaviour.
"So you lot must NEVER… EVER… fly into that region," said Kiara seriously, making Sandalwood's group flinch.
"Yes, unless you want to become the next meal of those mini-beasts," said Flax.
"And we don't want to lose any of you extremely rare species," said Harakeke, his eyes fixed on Arcturus, Sirius and the other Spix macaws, Denebola, Regulus, Saiph and also Altair, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya. Cody, Lilo and Sparky nodded in agreement. Sandalwood and the others nodded obediently, promising to never go anywhere near that place. As soon as she was satisfied that the newcomers had taken in this important warning and message, Kiara moved on, leading Sandalwood's group with Reepicheep, the two kiwis and the three cockatiels back into Dundee's group territory. As the group walked along, Kiara began to explain more on the activities of the inhabitants of the artificial jungle.
"We pretty much have plenty of freedom to do our activities," she said, "There's not much set routine except to take young 'uns to classes, forage for food grown on the jungle trees or a health checkup from our human carers…"
As she said this, the group passed by a group of birds playing and laughing in a lake and fountain built into the artificial habitat. Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix gazed at the birds and saw that these birds were a type of aquatic flightless birds called penguins. Most of the penguins were chubby and had black backs and white fronts, but their plumage markings varied depending on what species they belonged to. Bellatrix and Spica managed to identify at least three of the species as the penguins splashed in the lake, swam, relaxed, dived, danced together and did other things. All except one lone individual who appeared to sit on a rock away from the other penguins. At this, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Sandalwood and some of the others with eyebrows raised in puzzlement, squinted at the lone young penguin.
"That's the penguins' play-zone," said Harakeke, "Though other animals are welcome to play in the lake as well."
"What's up with that loner on that rock?" asked Alegria, a bright green and yellow wing pointing to the lone and depressed-looking penguin chick. Flax came in and gazed at the chick.
"That's a young emperor penguin," he said, "His name is Atreyu and he's the only emperor penguin in this enclosure."
"There aren't any other emperor penguins in this enclosure like him?" asked Arcturus in surprise.
"No wonder he looks so despondent and lonely," said Alegria, a flash of sympathy lighting up within her as she gazed at the penguin chick. The chick, though he was an emperor penguin, was smothered with grey downy feathers but his head was black with a white facial mask with part of the black dividing it between the eyes. His feet were also black. Seeing some flashes of colour out of the corner of his eye, the little chick slowly raised his head and gazed despondently at Alegria, Sandalwood, Sirius and the others as they gazed sympathetically in return.
"How did that penguin end up here?" asked Sandalwood.
"He, like many of the other animals that live here," said Reepicheep, "Is rescued from humans but his story is a little different."
"He apparently got caught in a fishing net off the coast of Chile and was rescued and brought here," said Sparky, "He originates from Antarctica where a massive group of emperor penguins live."
"A large number of penguins in that group are very talented dancers and singers," said Cody with an intrigued smile, before it fell as he gazed at the penguin chick once again, "But we've never really seen or heard that penguin chick perform any dance moves or sing any song."
"Maybe he's shy?" asked Rigel.
"Or maybe he misses his family," said Betelgeuse before the flood of emotions over the loss of Io and Sheldon and the other relatives returned, splintering her voice and bringing tears to her eyes, "Like how we do…"
A sniffle escaped her throat. Some of the others including Sandalwood also began to ooze tears once again. Reepicheep flashed them a sympathetic gaze.
"You'll eventually overcome the shock of being brought here and settle in but it's gonna take time," he said with encouragement, making Sandalwood and the others gaze at him. "Anyway, let's resume the tour."
"Yes, there are still plenty of other animals for you to meet," said Kiara, hoping to lift the despondent group's spirits. However, this did not work as Sandalwood and company breathed sighs of sadness. As the group left, Alegria flashed a glance back at the emperor penguin chick who continued to gaze at the group before finally bowing his head, a sad sigh escaping his beak. Seeing that he was not interested in her presence, Alegria darted off after the others.