Page 42 - Dark Matter Issue5 Part II
P. 42
We could see that they wanted each other, though they were very still. Then he arched
back in a parabola of desire and in seconds they mated in the purple dusk.
It was the last moment of the last day at Mashatu. Then the full moon rose.
We left the field of vision of fertility and creation for Damaraland in Namib, the oldest
desert of the world. Here desert Elephants having adjusted to the environment and able
to go without water for a few day are frequently born without tusks as a rapid genetic
response to poaching. Last year, we saw a tuskless herd in the reserve and this year we
were aware of many more tuskless Elephants among the others on the narrow oasis
along a sand river where three very small herds sustain themselves.
