| It was young, not yet fully grown. It wasn't very | | | | Where is one able to see animals roaming free |
| thin although it should have been. With injuries like | | | | and not endangered in their natural environment? |
| those, it should really not have been alive at all. | | | | There are not that many places left. In addition to |
| Yet it's coat had a sheen on it, it's eyes were | | | | its public game reserves, Africa has quite large |
| bright and it's nose was moist, all the signs of | | | | tracts of scantily populated areas, but they are |
| health. | | | | often inaccessible. Canada has Algonquin Park |
| The dogs had alerted us to its being there. Their | | | | where moose may be seen. They come to the |
| barking was a loud call to us to come and so we | | | | small lakes to taste the salt licks put out for them |
| went. It was a young kudu cow. | | | | and to roll in the mud. A good way to view them |
| It happened many years ago but to this day, the | | | | is on especially designed canoeing trips. These |
| memory of it is clear. There it stood on all four | | | | days though, shooting them with a camera is the |
| legs, but the left back leg, from the middle of the | | | | best way of capturing a memorable moment. |
| shin, was just bone. Nothing else. Just bone. | | | | Botswana has hippo, antelope, giraffe and many |
| Unbelievable, but true. It had probably been caught | | | | other types of wild life along the unspoiled |
| in the jagged steel jaws of a trap and in its | | | | Okovango Delta. It is possible to view them from |
| frantic tugging to get free had left the flesh | | | | a mukoro, a flat-bottomed dugout which is poled |
| behind. The hoof and bone above it was still | | | | by a guide in the same way that a punt is |
| intact, though no flesh clung to it. How it had | | | | propelled. The mukoro is ideal for swamps as the |
| managed to survive is a riddle. No-one else I | | | | water cannot be deeper than the length of the |
| know has seen a similar phenomenon. If an animal | | | | guide's pole. In recent years hippo have greatly |
| can survive like this, why can't a human being? | | | | objected to mukoros that came too close, posing |
| Trapping in Southern Africa is a means to an end, | | | | a considerable risk to the unwary sightseer. |
| the end being the alleviation of hunger. People are | | | | The Yukon in Canada lays a table of variety for |
| poor, and hungry mouths are a constant source | | | | paddlers. The Amazon Rain forest in Ecuador can |
| of concern. If they work and their wages are not | | | | be explored by canoe. In New Hampshire along |
| paid on time, they have no resources to fall back | | | | Magalloway River and Umbagog Lake there are |
| on. Many cannot find work. Don't judge too | | | | varied experiences to be enjoyed by canoe. |
| harshly or criticise too emotionally then. When a | | | | Tampa Bay in Florida offers the opportunity for |
| beautiful animal like a kudu presents itself to you, | | | | paddling enthusiasts to see alligators and other wild |
| very few are they, in circumstances of hunger, | | | | creatures, a popular activity for canoeists as |
| who do not kill it to eat. | | | | statistics show. All this is good exercise, new |
| There was a very real danger of it being hunted | | | | experiences, fresh air and an ongoing interest in |
| by a pack of dogs, and in its present condition it | | | | one's surroundings. Better than Peter Stuyvesant. |
| would not have been able to survive such an | | | | Typing 'wild life and canoeing' into a search engine |
| attack. There being no veterinary practice within | | | | or other terms specific to viewing wild life, will |
| 60 miles, and no means of tranquilizing and | | | | bring up both information and sites which offer |
| transporting it to a vet, we decided that it would | | | | organised canoe trips. Places mentioned in this |
| be best to shoot it. When it came to be skinned, | | | | article can also be searched for if any of them |
| another miracle regarding its ability to survive was | | | | should be of interest to you. |
| revealed. The bullet from a heavy rifle had passed | | | | If you want to own your own canoe, here are a |
| through the centre of its back, from right to left, | | | | few examples of the wide range of crafts |
| just beneath the spinal column. It had healed | | | | available: |
| perfectly with only the memory of the trauma it | | | | Pelican boats have the Colorado assembled family |
| must've suffered living on in our imagination. | | | | canoe. Designed with family fun in mind, it is safe |
| And so the struggle for survival between man | | | | and stable, versatile and easy to manoeuvre, |
| and his surroundings goes on in many parts of the | | | | carrying up to 800lbs. |
| world even today. | | | | |