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| For nearly two decades I have lived my life trying to protect wild hippos here in Zimbabwe, Africa. I am now known as a hippo expert and my knowledge of these magnificent animals has increased with every day I spend in their world. My husband is a scientist with a PhD in geology and both of us realise that our world is not just what we see around us. When you live in Africa as close to nature as ourselves and you share each day with the natural world, you see so much. We also share our lives with Africa’s people who have not been schooled in European ways, whose beliefs and knowledge of so many things far surpass what both of us grew up with. Your eyes are opened to other aspects of our lives. When you watch daily not only the lives of hippos but all the other animals that interact in their habitat, the birds, the reptiles, the animals that move in the circle of the hippos’ home, then you cannot help but be amazed and awed by the system that exists within this natural world, which again is far superior than the world of man. Recently in July, I found a young male hippo by the name of Five, dead. His death was natural in that he had been killed by another hippo. Yet his own mother Blackface was, of all these Turgwe Hippos, the most protective, and Five was her first son in nearly 20 years. I knew that, had she been alive, he would not have died. Therefore, with his death I finally believed that his mother must also have died. I needed answers and I found them. I have for years known a lady in the USA who held a very high position in a huge animal welfare organisation, one of the biggest in America. This lady suggested I contacted one of two animal communicators that she knew of. Blackface died at the hands of man. She was shot and her body and head have disappeared, completely gone. In the feedback that I received from Oephebia there were too many accurate observations that even the most skeptical of humans could not have dismissed. I know, as does my husband, that Blackface indeed was in touch with Oephebia. I now know how she died and I am investigating further what she told us as to who killed her. So what has this communication achieved for me? These men, by shooting her, killed not only Blackface but her son as well, as he lost his mother, his shield. Yet her genes live on in Cheeky, a daughter of hers born in 1990. Blackface must now become the ambassador for these Turgwe hippos. Her death must not have been in vain. Jean-Roger and I have found ourselves strengthened in our desire to protect the animals around us. Justice will come, but it is just not my own hands that can deliver it. What goes around comes around and these men’s merciless souls will be dealt with. Blackface is totally at peace now and walks with others of her kind. She holds no revenge nor malice in her spirit. She just wants us to continue our work here and never to lose our focus on the wonder and beauty of our natural world. She tells us to be vigilant and to be there for her kind. I can only honour her request. |
Karen Paolillo, |
