Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

"What's that over there? An elephant corpse, how rare."

Standing on top of the hill, Bi Fang was keeping an eye on the safety of their surroundings, when he suddenly noticed a mound of flesh on the ground in the distance, which he realized upon closer inspection was the body of an elephant, with vultures circling above it in the sky.

This sight surprised everyone, as many had never seen an elephant corpse before and found it quite novel.

"Could it have been killed by poachers?"

"It's possible, I've heard that poachers in Africa are rampant."

"Should we be cautious then?"

"Maybe it was bitten by something?"

"True, that's also a possibility."

Various speculations arose, but to know the truth, they needed to get closer and observe carefully to reach a conclusion. Thus, everyone urged Old Fang to go and check.

Under normal circumstances, viewers might ask another broadcaster to be careful not to run into any trouble.

But when it came to Bi Fang, his fans were well aware of his capabilities and their curiosity was aroused, immediately urging him on.

Do you know the weight the title 'Master Fang' carries? Tactical retreat.

"Why not go take a look?"

"Yeah, go over and check it out."

"Charge forward, as a righteous person, I cannot ignore this!"

Even if the viewers hadn't requested it, Bi Fang's style meant he was definitely going to check it out.

However, considering the possibility of poachers, Bi Fang did not act recklessly. He scanned the area and found no traces around the carcass that were too apparent, nor any place around that could conceal a vehicle.

"I see the body has been gnawed on, but the exposed flesh and tissues inside are already very dark in color. There are also vultures perched on it, which means quite some time has passed since the elephant died. The body is starting to decay. If this was caused by humans, it's very likely that we won't encounter the perpetrator anymore."

"Simply put, we're too late."

After explaining, Bi Fang ran down from the hillside, with small rocks rolling down under him. Soon after quick strides, followed by a confounded cheetah, they both arrived next to the elephant carcass.

As expected, a strong stench of decay hit them and was so overpowering that the cheetah covered its nose with its paw and stepped back, refusing to move forward. Bi Fang had to proceed alone.

The sharp beaks of the vultures easily ripped off the softened, decaying flesh, swallowing chunks of meat and noticing the intruding enemy.

The approach of a stranger made the vultures screech, but the newcomer showed no signs of backing down.

Seeing that intimidation was useless, the vultures stepped back a few paces, grasped onto the skin and flesh, jumped behind the elephant, and continued to feed, clearly not willing to leave just yet.

Bi Fang was unfazed. He crouched down, held his breath, and used the tree stick in his hand to pry open the dangling elephant skin, exposing the inner tissue.

As he lifted the elephant skin, a swarm of black flies burst out, startling the viewers in front of the screen.

Luckily, before a more disgusting scene unfolded, a mosaic blocked everything.

Even with the blurred vision, the viewers could guess what was beneath—nothing but the flies' favorite activities: feeding and laying eggs.

The recent weather hadn't been very hot, but as long as the temperature was above fifteen degrees Celsius, it was still suitable for them to lay eggs.

"Damn, I was just about to eat, now my appetite is gone."

"Humans' greatest invention, the mosaic."

"You weren't saying that last night."

"How long has it been since this decayed?"

"So, how did it actually die?"

"Looking at the wound, it seems like it was killed by an animal; the head is also intact, probably not for ivory."

"Could it be possible that it died of old age?"

"Come to think of it, you rarely see elephants that died of old age."

"Perhaps it was killed by poachers before it could die of old age."

"They say elephants rarely die of old age; they usually starve to death before that happens, and poachers aren't really to blame for that."

Bi Fang was trying to find more clues on the elephant's corpse while glancing at the barrage of comments, addressing the audience's confusion.

"Elephant teeth are quite special. Most mammals have only three sets of molars that grow in a way similar to bamboo shoots, and once mature, the teeth can no longer be renewed.

Elephants are different, however; they lack canines, only have incisors and six sets of molars. But because their upper and lower jaws are relatively short, they can't accommodate all six sets at once. So these six sets appear in order, like on a conveyor belt, gradually moving forward from the back of the mouth."

"Such mammals are actually very rare. Among 5,500 known mammal species, fewer than ten can continuously renew their molars. Other than elephants, only three species of manatees, rock wallabies, and silvery mole rats have teeth that push forward from the back."

[That sounds painful]

[Losing Sanity a bit]

[What's that all about?]

"Indeed, it is uncomfortable, so elephants changing their teeth are usually quite irritable."

Bi Fang affirmed this statement and continued.

"Since elephants live long, their sixth set of molars has to last twenty to thirty years. If they eat too much hard-to-chew food causing dental damage, it effectively shortens their lifespan."

"Many wildlife rescue nonprofits, such as Wildlife SOS, feed semi-liquid food to old elephants on their sixth set of molars."

"In fact, many animals starve to death because they lose all their teeth, but since elephants hardly have any natural predators, even when old, carnivores cannot provoke them easily. So, they mostly die of starvation rather than old age."

Bi Fang walked around the elephant, and the vultures hopped around it as well.

"Unable to find food and suffering from extreme hunger, elephants rely on drinking water to cope."

"And the older an elephant gets, the more delicate it appears because its ears and trunk fade with age."

"That's why we don't see elephants die of old age, but we do often see elephants with pinkish skin dead near water sources."

[Useless knowledge enhanced]

[Wow, you know all that]

[Damn, sometimes when I haven't had lunch and it's not yet dinner time, I get so uncomfortable that I drink lots of plain water to feel better]

[+1]

[Suddenly, I understand (funny)]

[Nature's secrets are now an open book!]

Bi Fang moved to the back of the elephant, and the vultures jumped again onto the elephant's belly.

That's when he finally made a discovery.

"It wasn't animals; it was humans—look, there are bullet holes here."

Bi Fang pushed the elephant's head aside forcefully, revealing its neck side pressed against the ground, marked by several huge bullet holes big as bowls, confirming the human involvement.

"This is a tuskless female; hence, the skull is intact."

"African elephants differ from Asian elephants as both male and female African elephants have tusks, but I remember mentioning that due to selective human impact, more and more African elephants are growing without tusks."

"I don't know why those people would want to kill her."

Bi Fang was puzzled.

When it comes to Africa's hottest commodities, it's definitely ivory and rhino horns.

However, rhino horns are made from epidermal keratin; they have no bony core, mainly composed of keratin.

Ivory is different; it's an extension of the elephant's bone, with roughly one-third embedded within the skull, meaning the ivory is connected to the skull, and it is impossible to remove all of the ivory while the elephant is alive.

So, while it is possible to harvest rhino horns without killing the rhino, harvesting ivory means the elephant is undoubtedly going to die.

But conversely, if they're not after the ivory, why kill the elephant?

"The bite marks were added later, and at least two days have passed since."

After observing the surroundings again, this time from a closer distance, Bi Fang made a different discovery and pointed towards a large tree nearby.

"That tree looks like a good spot for an ambush; let's go check it out."