The Big Cats of Bakula: The Apple's Lesson

by PantheraMan

Chapter 3: The Kings of The Jungle

When they got to their next stop, they saw they were in a place with dry open forest, villages, farmland, livestock, and lots of people.

"So where are we this time?" asked Applejack

"This is Gujarat, India." Answered the lion

"This place is full of farmland, why would you bring us to this place?" asked Big Mac

"You shall see after the sun sets." Answered the lion

After the sun did set, they saw that the village became a wildlife lover's paradise. They saw herds of chital deer, deer with light brown fur and white spots, a group of Sambar, huge deer with dark brown fur that could be heavier than elk, Nilgai , antelope that are huge, weighing up to three hundred kilograms, females are light brown with white underbellies, males are blue-gray, have underbellies, and have rather short horns that stick straight out. They also saw Wild Boar, chinkara a.k.a Indian Gazelle, Golden Jackals, and even a Striped Hyena. Out in the fields, they saw farmers with big flashlights and walking sticks in their hands, trying to chase off the Sambar from their fields.

"This is just crazy, why don't they use weapons or fire to scare them off?" asked Big Mac

"Around here, they don't need to, for they have one powerful ally, just take a look over there." Answered the lion

They took a good look alright, and they laid eyes on a coalition of two male Asiatic Lions, they were smaller than their African cousins, and definitely smaller then their Bakulan cousins, with smaller manes and a large fold of skin on their bellies. One of them crouched down on the ground, while the other one stalked and went behind the Sambar, when that lion was close enough, it charged, the Sambar ran for their lives, however, they were being pushed in the direction of the other lion, and it leaped onto a stag, and brought it to the ground, and killed it with a bite to the throat. The lions began to eat their kill when they did their duty.

"I get it, these people like having these lions around because they can help keeps crop raiders like those deer away!" Said Big Mac

"Correct, speaking of crops, there's another place I want to take you." Responded the lion

So they left, and found themselves in another crop field, they weren't in India, but in the country of Bhutan. In this crop field, they saw a group of Sambar, but this time, they weren't chased by lions, they were being chased by dholes that were after the calves.

"So......basically it's the same here as it is in Gujarat?" asked Applejack

"Not entirely, there is something in the jungles that forces these dholes and leopards into these fields." Answered the lion before he took them into the nearby jungle, these jungles are thicker than those in Gujarat, and also wetter, but in this jungle, they saw a huge wild boar male just minding his buisness, or at least he was until a big male Bengal tiger came charging out from ambush, chased his quarry, and grabbed it by the top of the neck and snapped it, and then he had his meal.

"So...tigers drive smaller predators away from these places and they end up near the crop fields where they hunt crop raiders?" asked Applejack

"Correct, now come, there's still one last thing I want to show you two." Answered the lion

Comments

[Comickook]

Really good show of how those lions and tigers helped the humans against smaller predators.

Now, on to the next chapter.