Prehistoric Park Back From The Ashes Chapter 8: Beasts of Africa

Animals


There is something missing from our world. The amazing animals that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back. What if extinction didn't have to be forever? We're going back on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurer Nigel Marvin plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. His plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.

This time, Nigel and Chiyo save the largest hippo ever to exist and the first mammoth species ever to exist, but not without bring back a few surprises.

Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.

Chapter 8- Beasts of Africa

Today, Prehistoric Park is preparing for one of the most dangerous land mammals ever to live to arrive at Prehistoric Park: a giant hippopotamus. As funny as it may sound, hippos kill more people than any other African animal ever year. The park will have to be careful with getting a giant one. But first, he has gone back in time to start a small revival.

Nigel stood in a cave with water up to his knees. Chiyo stood next to him, holding a bucket full of water and water beetles. Nigel saw a little black dot out of the corner of his eye and he quickly swept his net through the water. He triumphantly displayed another water beetle to the camera before putting the little insect into the bucket.

After several more minutes of catching water beetles, they went back through the portal and into the present. In the holding pens, a long white table had been laid out. The beetles were placed in an aquarium filled with water that said PERRIN'S CAVE BEETLE.

A dozen other tanks had animals in them including Xerces Blue Butterflies, Houting (an extinct fish), Ivell's Sea Anemone, Ratas Island Lizards, Lava Mice, and others (listed at the end of this chapter).

"As you can see, Chiyo and I decided to collect some smaller, lesser known extinct animals" Nigel said to the cameraman. "Today, Chiyo and I are going to capture the largest hippopotamus ever to live, Hippopotamus Gorgops. Not only are we going to catch these beasts we're also catching the one of the first mammoths to ever live, the African Mammoth."

i Nigel quickly pulled a picture of a hippopotamus that towered over another, modern one.

"These creatures lived at the same time of Australopithecus" Chiyo said. "They started to go extinct from climate change at the end of the Pliocene, right around when hominids started to evolve more and the brush fires became more frequent. With the hominids and predators picking off the young, habitat being burnt, and vegetation being destroyed, these African monsters became doomed for extinction."

Bob came walking over to the two with several other people, who started carrying the small animal tanks back towards Peace Park.

"So, you're off to find your hippos then?" Bob asked.

"Yes, but do forgive us if we bring back a few more animals" Nigel said cheerily. "Several big cats, extinct antelope, and hominids shared the environment with them. We've had John activated the portal take us right next to a river, where a lot of animals will congregate."

The blue portal flickered to life and the Nigel and Chiyo got into their jeep. Nigel flicked the ignition to life and drove through the portal.

As Nigel and Chiyo explore Miocene Africa, Jordan and Maria are cleaning up after a very temperamental dinosaur: Papa Pawpaw. Papa Pawpaw was brought back from Cretaceous Texas with a mixed herd of herbivores, a family of ravenous Deinonychus, and a pack of Acrocanthosaurus.

Maria and Jordan shoveled the dung as quickly as possible into the back of the truck. A distance away, the Pawpawsaurus and Tenontosaurus herd could be seen traveling together, with Papa Pawpaw at the front. Several minutes later, the herd stopped to graze on the ferns making the two humans go even faster so the nodosaur didn't notice them.

"We're gonna die" Maria mumbled as Papa Pawpaw grazed closer towards them. Nodosaurs and ankylosaurs only had a keen sense of smell with poor eyesight.

"Relax a bit" Jordan whispered. They had almost filled up the truck. "The wind is blowing towards us. He's not going to smell us."

As Jordan finish his sentence, a strong gust of wind blew toward Papa Pawpaw, alerting him to their presence. Maria paled and Jordan swore under his breath. The dinosaur snorted, irritated, before bellowing and charging at the truck. The two humans ran to the front and started the engine before speeding off.

"You just had push things, didn't you?" Maria said to Jordan as he drove away.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that would happen?" Jordan said in his defense. "I don't even know what happened back there."

"I know what happened. You jinxed it. Never say you feel safe in Prehistoric Park."

The two stayed silent after that until they reached the gate before quickly closing it. In the distance, Papa Pawpaw could be heard bellowing in victory. He ran around in a little circle before slamming his tail into the ground in triumph.

"I hate that guy" Jordan said as Papa Pawpaw trotted back to his herd.

In Miocene Africa, Nigel and Chiyo have come across a small river that the river flows into. Lakes are a hotspot for both predators and prey alike. If they are going to find their targets, it's here.

Nigel and Chiyo walked on the lake shore, inspecting it, when a hyena laugh came from a nearby bush. The two pulled out portal grenades as a small pack of hyenas came out of the underbrush. They had yellow coats with stripes running down them, most likely to blend in with the grass. The pack attacked and the two humans threw their portal grenades, sending the carnivores back to the present.

"Those were Ictitherium" Chiyo said to the camera. "They were hunters of the medium-sized game in this area and most likely ate the zebra and antelope native here. They would have competed with the wild dogs, big cats, and other hyenas of the area for the kills and carrion."

A large rumble came from over the hill. Carefully, Nigel and Chiyo hiked over, hidden in the bushes (they had to be careful though, they could be bitten by a venomous snake). After several minutes of crawling through bushes and getting around a cobra, they got over the hill and saw a herd of hairless mammoths with spirally twisting tusks. The females grazed on the edges with the calves and four males walked around on the outside, looking for a female to mate with.

"These are a different species of mammoth " Nigel said excitedly. "Their scientific name is Mammuthus Subplanifrons. They were the ancestors of the African mammoth and were thought to have gone extinct by now. It appears that the males live with the females, unlike other mammoths and elephants. The end of the Miocene will almost certainly destroy the last remnants of this magnificent species, so I think they're safe to save. What about you Chiyo?"

Nigel turned to see Chiyo wasn't their. She was instead high in a tree, looking at something in the brush near Nigel. She motioned for him to stay quiet and Nigel held still. After several seconds, a low growl came from Nigel's left. Nigel slowly turned his head to see a saber-toothed cat stalking towards to the herd, just feet away from him. Another two followed behind it.

Nigel looked up at Chiyo when she gave a little shake of a branch. The cats ignored it, but Nigel looked up. It turned out Chiyo wasn't alone. A group of red Australopithecus-like apes stayed silent in the trees with her. Chiyo turned her own mini cam on and spoke into it.

"I'm in a tree with a troop of an extinct ape species called Ardipithecus Ramidus. They're relatives of Australopithecus, but smaller. They could also stand upright and walk upright like an Australopithecus as well. They most likely went extinct because of competition with Australopithecus and the newly evolved hominids."

She looked at the cats before continuing. "The saber-tooths below me are Machairodus Africanus. There were many different species of Machairodus, but I'm convinced that the species down there are Africanus. They appear to hunt in packs like the Smilodon back at the park."

The cats were a golden with black stripes and a little red bit of fur on their heads. The teeth were two feet long and were thicker than a Smilodon's.

"If we do this correctly and quickly, then maybe we can get two birds with one stone" Nigel said. "Maybe we can even rescue the Ardipithecus as well."

A little hoot came from the mammoth herd and Nigel and Chiyo look over. A baby Ardipithecus pair was on top of a rock in the middle of the herd. If a stampede happened, the mammoths could accidentally hit the babies of with their trunks and trample them.

Nigel quickly ran out of his hiding place quickly, startling the saber-tooths into roaring the high alerted the herd. The mammoths started to form a circle, but before they finished Nigel ran in and grabbed the two baby apes. The strange two legged creature running in and out of the herd angered the matriarch, who charged Nigel. Nigel quickly set up and activated the portal, which sent the matriarch through into the holding pens.

The rest of the mammoths followed through. The females to protect the matriarch, the babies to follow their mothers, and the males to follow the females. Nigel ran through the portal briefly with the baby apes as the three Machairodus and the rest of their pack emerged from the undergrowth. They chased after Nigel through the portal, where they cornered him in a holding pen until the holding pen keepers tranquilized the pack.

Nigel quickly ran through the portal with the young in his hands and jogged to the tree Chiyo was in. She climbed down with a female Ardipithecus, who Nigel assumed to be the mother. Nigel handed the two to her and the rest of the troop climbed down. The alpha male extended his palm towards Chiyo, who stroked it. The troop immediately climbed all over her as she tried to set up the portal to send them through.

The alpha male then walked over to Nigel and extended the palm to him, which he stroked as well. The two young Ardipithecus that Nigel had saved earlier immediately ran up to him and jumped on to his shoulders and hung on like two furry backpacks. Nigel laughed and the portal activated. The troop immediately ran up to investigate as Nigel walked through. Chiyo grabbed the hand of the troop leader and led him through, with the rest of the troop following.

As Nigel and Chiyo must help Bob get the troop situated with their new home, Henry Wu is working with the hybrid project. Or as Hoskins liked to call it the "New Blood" project. Whatever it was called, Wu was annoyed he was being blackmailed into playing God.

Wu finally had fertilized embryos. It had taken three days to find DNA that would merge (he hadn't slept during that time), even though they were mostly of unrelated species. It had taken another two days to make and incubate the embryos and another day to try and fertilize them.

Wu was surprised by how many of the eggs had been fertilized. He had created twenty eggs and expected only one or two, or perhaps none, to be fertilized. However, twelve had been fertilized. It just went to show how much more advanced Prehistoric Park's technology was than regular technology of the rest of the world. Wu looked at the biological blueprints of the creatures they would become.

On a computer monitor, it showed three different creatures and had little bulletins of expected traits and random "to be expected" notes. Wu had created these creatures with a special trait that would make it impossible for them to leave the island chain. They were Lysine defendant.

Wu had created the creatures so that they would need to be supplied lysine pills in their food to survive. John Hammond had wanted this idea for his dinosaurs when he had tried to create Jurassic Park, but the idea never got put into action since he was never able to create the dinosaurs.

On one part of the screen showed Wu's favorite hybrid combination (even though it was his favorite creature, he still didn't want to create it). It showed a dinosaur with the front and head of a Triceratops Horridus and the back of a Stegosaurus Armatus. It said below the creature Stegoceratops Stenops. Wu had gotten six fertilized eggs from them. To the left of it were bulletins that said:

Expected to live in forests with lysine rich plants Expected to live forty years Tempermental? Can fertilize their own eggs if males aren't around

Wu felt slightly guilty about the last part. He knew the that it could potentially lead to problems, but it was the way Hoskins had ordered him to create them. And Wu had to do what he wanted because the slimy little eel had blueprints to the teleportation portal.

The next monitor showed a large monitor-like lizard as long as a man is tall. Wu had combined the DNA of modern monitor lizards, Megalania, and Asprosaurus. The name above was Varanus Morten. In Latin, it literally meant the death monitor. That was what Wu referred to them as. He had gotten three fertilized death monitor eggs. Over the death monitor, bulletins said:

Can turn nearly invisible like Indominus Rex, can hide from thermal Expected to like chicken (a lysine rich meat) Two rows of teeth, can climb tree, and have powerful legs. Long jumping range? Expected to be venomous Expected to be intelligent, Can reproduce asexually, only one egg though, two females infertile, last fertile

Wu was guilty about the last part of that too. He didn't want a pack of death monitors roaming in their enclosure (Wu had told Bob to build three special enclosures for the hybrids, he hadn't told Bob what for though). But Wu also didn't want to make a species and condemn it to extinction. Wu sighed as he looked at the last creature. It was a dromaeosaurid that was larger than Dromaeosaurus, but smaller than Utahraptor. It had no feathers and had a row of porcupine-like quills that went from along it's neck to the back of it's tail. To the right of it was the name Dinoraptor Rex. It literally meant terrible thief king.

Wu frowned. Rex was getting overrated. Everyone did Rex, but never Regina. There was Tyrannosaurus, Thanatosaurus, and Indominus rexes now. One day, he was going to have a talk to the people who had named the Thanatosaurus and Indominuses. But not before skinning Hoskins and giving him to the Megalodon.

Wu looked back to the monitor and the expected traits of Dinoraptor.

Strong and smart

Can possibly swim, Will probably build dens, Have quills for self-defense

Wu yawned. He looked at the clock. He had woken up at four in the morning. It was now five in the afternoon. One more hour and it would be quitting time. Wu sighed. If only it was legal that Wu could push Hoskins into Lamia's tank.

Meanwhile, at the holding pens of Muerta, Nigel and Chiyo have finally finished putting the new animals into their enclosures. Now they are ready to bring back the hippo on steroids.

Nigel and Chiyo walked through the portal and back on to the lakeside. Nigel and Chiyo hiked for several minute before passing an empty crocodile nest. The eggs had been recently destroyed and a male crocodile could be seen in the water. It looked like a modern Nile crocodile, except for the fact that it was twenty-six feet long.

"This is most likely the nest of the a nearby female crocodile" Chiyo said to the camera. "The species here in front of me is  Crocodylus   Thorbjarnarsoni . They were just like modern crocodiles, waiting at the water's edge for prey to come down. However, these guys are big enough to drag down even mammoths!"

"Chiyo, look down there" Nigel said pointing ahead. A female crocodile lay there with a wound on her shoulder. She was the mother of the nest.

"You get the male, I get the female" Chiyo whispered to Nigel.

Nigel nodded and looked around the reeds for several minutes before finding a large branch. Nigel went back in time to see the female crocodile go through the portal.

Nigel walk to the water's edge and slapped the branch onto the surface. The male ducked under the surface and a dark black shape could be seen swimming towards Nigel.

"Everyone get back" Nigel said before the giant crocodilian burst out of the water.

Nigel jumped back and the crocodile snapped at the spot he had been mere moments ago. Nigel pulled a portal grenade out of his pocket and chucked it at the colossal reptile before it got the chance to go back underwater. The great reptilian beast disappeared in a flash of blue light that sent it into the future.

"Well, that was fun" Nigel said to the camera.

"Nigel, look!" Chiyo said, pointing down the river banks.

A herd of female mammoths and their calves was drinking out of the lake. They had thin, grey fur and almost grey tusks. A herd of males followed them with a troop of brown apes with white heads. The male apes looked like they were old men that had black mustaches. The apes stayed a small distance away from the mammoths, possibly to avoid angering or being trampled by them.

"These are the African mammoths we've been looking for" Chiyo said proudly. "Their scientific name is  Mammuthus   Africanavus . The apes following them are most likely  Paranthropus   Robustus, another australopithecine. The African mammoths are being followed by a herd of males looking for mates. Paranthropus were almost entirely herbivorous, but would have occasionally ate insects and perhaps small reptiles. This would be a great opportunity to add a third australopithecine ape species to the list of animals we've rescued."

Nigel nodded in agreement. The two cautiously walked towards the troop. It wasn't the apes they were afraid of. Elephants are one of Africa's most temperamental animals, so mammoths shouldn't be any different with both groups being closely related to each other. It turned out they were right.

Once they got within several meters of the troop and herd, the matriarch looked up and trumpeted in anger. She charged at the two humans who ran away. After less than ten feet, the mammoth stopped. She turned back towards the herd and started grazing once more.

"Chiyo, set the portal up so that we can send the matriarch back" Nigel said. "If we can send the matriarch back, the rest of the herd will follow. After that, we'll follow the troop for a while to see if they lead us to a herd of Hippopotamus Gorgops."

Chiyo set the portal device into the sand as firmly as she could while Nigel got the attention of the matriarch. The matriarch this time disinterested in him, continuing to graze in peace.

"I don't know why she's not attacking this time" Nigel said. He turned around to check on Chiyo's progress before turning back to the herd. The matriarch was almost on top of him. She had been waiting for Nigel to let his guard down.

"CHIYO ACTIVATE THE PORTAL OH MY GOD I AM ABOUT TO BE TRAMPLED BY A MAMMOTH I DON'T WANT TO DIE LEAVE ME ALONE MAMMOTH BLIMEY BACTROSAURUS CHIYO HELP!"

Nigel ran across while the portal wasn't opened. This time, the mammoth was determined to get Nigel, possibly to eliminate what she thought was a potential threat to the herd. As soon as the matriarch of the herd came within feet of the portal, Chiyo pressed the remote to activate it. The mammoth charged through the portal, unable to stop her run in time. The rest of the herd rushed through to her defense and, after a minute or so, Nigel and Chiyo closed the portal.

"Aren't you glad you have me in these situations?" Chiyo joked.

At Prehistoric Park, Suzanne is looking at some of the newer species of the park to study their mating behaviors. Most of the animals make a special noise or dance to woo a female. Some fight, while others display their feathers. Some even bring offerings of food. However, one of the park's oldest new residents has a very different way of attracting mates.

Suzanne watched one of the two Acrocanthosaurus males in his nest from the high hide. It wasn't a true nest actually, but more like a hoard of meat and junk.

The males had been eating half their food, while the other half they dragged away. This male had been starving himself for the past three days to drag food back here. Nobody knew what it was until Suzanne had came.

The nest has large to say the least. It was lined with stones that they males rolled up from the riverbed and seashore (it turned out they liked to occasionally swim, they even would catch small sharks). They then arranged the stones into a circular shape in a place they thought was safe. After that was done, the hoarding began.

The males picked up any objects they thought would grab a female's attention. This one was quite the collector with a collection comprising of an old tire, a rake, five shoes, a sweater, a bucket, several pieces of Quartz, and the all time carnivore favorite: dozens of pieces of rotting meat.

"This one Acrocanthosaurus has been aggressive more so than any other one" Suzanne said to the camera. "He appears to have been the dominant one in the pack. Acrocanthosaurus will form very loose packs. They don't even sleep together. They all have their own dens, they don't eat together, they refuse to be given food at the same time. It appeared they only came together to defend their territory, invaded other territories, or hunt sauropods."

Suzanne scooched a bit in the hide, accidentally dropping her clipboard in the process. The relatively loud sound startled the Acrocanthosaurus, who looked towards the direction of the hide. He knew he was being watched. The theropod roared, giving Suzanne the cue that it was time for her to leave.

"Gotta go" she said, getting out of the hide as quickly as possible.

In Africa, Nigel and Chiyo have followed the australopithecine apes for several hours along the lakeside, looking for the hippo on steroids. Fortunately or unfortunately, they've found them.

It was almost night time when they found the hippos. The Paranthropus stopped briefly at the lakeside to drink when a loud snort came from behind. A massive hippo was grazing behind them. It was just barely an adult. Instead of the purplish skin of modern hippopotamus, this one was black. Blacker than the night sky.

"This is what we've been searching for" Nigel said excitedly to the cameraman. "This is a male Hippopotamus Gorgops. He's not the biggest of his species, but you can't deny that he's a beautiful creature."

Just then, the hippo's stomach rumbled and it let out a noxious fart. The apes climbed the trees to escape the horrid smell, but the humans were too late. Nigel clutched his throat and gagged at the horrible stench, while Chiyo started climbing the tree with the apes in vain to escape it. The cameraman dropped the camera and ran away into the bush.

After several minutes, the gas dispersed. The apes climbed back down with Chiyo before running off, Nigel got the smell out of his nose, and the cameraman came back. The hippo continued to graze in peace, seemingly oblivious to how bad it's fart smelled.

"Well, that most certainly would deter a predator" Nigel laughed. "No wonder modern hippos have almost no predators. He may be beautiful, but his gas sure packs a punch."

The hippo finally looked up at the humans before he continued to graze again. It appeared he didn't care too much about these newcomers. He was following a large game trail that was too small for elephants and mammoths, but too big for antelope, ostriches, and zebras. It was the perfect size for a giant hippo though.

Nigel smiled. Game trails were never made by just one animal. Where there was one hippo, there was a herd.

"This one may be a scout for the rest of the herd, so if we can somehow get him to call the herd up to us, then we may be able to get the rest to come here" Nigel said.

Chiyo was about to respond, but a mammoth trumpet cut her off. Chiyo turned around to see the undergrowth and trees shaking, like something big was charging. Chiyo just managed to dive out of the way as a male African mammoth charged out and bellowed a challenge at the hippo. It appeared that mammoths and hippos didn't always agree on territory boundaries.

The hippo turned around and bellowed a threat at the mammoth. The elephant-like creature flinched at the giant herbivore threatening it back, but it was too late to run away now. It appeared mammoths were all bark and little to no bite. The mammoth charged and the hippo stayed it's ground. Several yards away from the hippo, another giant hippopotamus charged out of the underbrush and rammed into the mammoth's ribs.

The mammoth fell onto it's side from the sudden impact and bellowed in pain. The new hippo bite into the leg of the fallen beast, using it's giant tusks to injure the great creature even further. After what seemed like hours, the hippo let go of the bloodied leg.

The mammoth trumpeted in pain and struggled to get up, before collapsing once more. The two hippos regarded the injured animal for a moment before they lumbered off, possibly to find the rest of the herd.

Nigel and Chiyo stared at the mammoth, injured and unable to get up. The hippo had possibly broken it's leg, leaving it unable to survive in the wild.

"I want try to take him back" said Nigel. "But then the hippos might come back and attack it even further if we try to get him up now. They're always more activate on land at night. We'll set up camp here for the night, protecting it. Then we'll wait until morning, when the hippos are back at the lake before we send it back. This reminds me of when we rescued Ellie and Martha. Defending them into the night time from predators, one of them gravely injured."

Later on that night, the group is awaken by the sound of predators. Miocene Africa is full of them, with big cats, giant crocodiles, extinct hyenas, and some of the lesser known predators of Africa.

"No! Leave him alone! Leave him alone!" Nigel yelled while waving his torch. The great fangs of giant baboons the size of men were made seen in the firelight.

One baboon leaped at Nigel, who hit it with the torch, sending the primate running away and shrieking in pain. Another tried to come from behind the vulnerable back of the mammoth, who trumpeted in fear. However, Chiyo came out of the tent with her tranquilizer pistol. She shot one dart into the neck of the baboon, who collapsed on the spot.

The mammoth was trying to fight too. Whenever, a baboon made the mistake of getting to close to his back legs, he kicked them. One baboon was hit by the legs and crashed into a tree trunk before slumping into the ground. His back had been broken.

Another baboon got too close to the trunk. The mammoth had no hesitation wrapping it around the neck of the bloodthirsty primate before slamming it's head into the ground. The primate shrieked, it's shrieks getting more cracked whenever it's head was smashed until it was silent. The primate was dead.

"These are a dangerous species" Chiyo said, reloading her gun. "These are Dinopithecus Ingens (no, they were not discovered by InGen). They were the largest baboon ever to live and, like the baboons of today, they were omnivores, feeding on both whatever they could find and forage and whatever they could kill and scavenge. These ones are just a part of a small group. A scary thought, considering modern baboons live in groups that number up into the hundreds or thousands!"

A Dinopithecus jumped at Nigel from behind, but the mammoth caught its leg in midair and threw it into a tree. It seemed that it was trying to protect the humans protecting him. Nigel hit another baboon with a torch, sending it squealing into the brush, but there was still at least a hundred more Dinopithecus.

Nigel set up the time portal while fending them off with his torch, using it as a distraction to the baboons. The time portal burst into life and the crew could hear the staff running into their positions in the holding pen. The troop immediately stopped attacking and investigated the strange new source of blue light. Nigel used this as an opportunity to bring his flare gun out.

Nigel shot his flare gun, scaring a large chunk of the troop through the portal, while the rest of the troop ran into the forest. Nigel smiled when they were all gone. He looked behind him to see Chiyo dragging injured and tranquilized baboons through the portal.

"Are you going to just stand there or are you going to help me?" Chiyo asked playfully. Nigel just laughed.

"We almost got torn apart by baboons on steroids, Chiyo. Can't a guy have a rest after getting chased by sabertooths, fighting baboons, and rescuing croc-zilla?"

"Not if you want to rescue extinct animals" Chiyo replied back while dragging the baboon with a broken back through the portal. The staff of Prehistoric Park were rushing the injured baboons over to the Muerta veterinary clinics. This one would have to be the first one there though.

In the morning at Prehistoric Park...

A tired Bob sat on the overhead walkway with a mug of coffee, watching the baboons below. The African mammoths had already been put together with the Subplanifrons mammoths. The mammoths lived in a plains exhibit with a small lake and forest. Tall savanna grass grew past the height of a man and one could get lost in the maze of grass.

The Ardipithecus had been given an enclosure with a shallow lake that they could wade in, a forest full of berries, figs, and termite mounds (artificial with pre-killed termites so that live ones didn't cause problems).

The giant crocodiles had been given a large lake to themselves with a bridge going over it. Several miles of river also made up the giant exhibit. Pond reeds dominated the shore and the exhibit had a nesting colony of egrets in the trees to provide some activity for guests who couldn't find the crocodiles.

The Ictitherium clan were given an enclosure South of the Machairodus pack enclosure. The enclosure comprised of several caves and watering holes on an open savanna. They shared the enclosure with jackals and vultures, which were trained to stay within the exhibit.

The Machairodus lived on a open, but forested savanna. They had already picked a hollow as their den and had showed a surprising cat trait. The Machairodus would dig large holes under large trees. Once they finished, they grabbed the largest leaves they could find and took them into the nests to use as bedding to make it softer.

Anyways, back to the baboons.

The entire baboon troop was screeching up a storm. Most of the injured ones had been taken care of and returned to the troop, but several had needed to stay in the clinic for a while longer.

"As you can see, Nigel decided to bring back some more primates" Bob said gesturing to the troop. "He really needs to stop monkeying around and just bring back his targets. He says he's going to bring back Coelophysis and he brings back three giant carnivores, a group of tiny crocodiles, and flying lizards. He says he's going to bring back some hippos and he brings back African sabertooths, giant crocodiles, and these buggers."

The alpha male barked and the troop suddenly got into a frenzy. That was because it was feeding time. The troop made a circle around where they wanted a genetically modified cow carcass to be dropped by a crane.

The cow dropped and the monkeys swarmed it. Once finished, they moved onto the dozens of watermelons, pumpkins, and cantaloupes left out for them. They appeared to dislike the pumpkin.

One monkey threw a piece of pumpkin at Bob. It splattered right next to him.

"Don't you give me any of that" Bob growled. The monkey this time hit him square in the face with a piece of watermelon. The baboon turned around and started playing with the rest of its troop in some form of tag. They were monkeying around.

In the morning at Miocene Africa...

Nigel sat next to the African mammoth. The mammoth had recovered enough that he could walk if he tried, but not for very long. Four dead baboons littered the campsite. The crew had packed as quickly as they could. It would not be long before carnivores came for the dead primates.

"We've made it" said a tired looking Nigel to the camera. "He's going to live. We've gone ahead and named him Alfred the African mammoth. We've been letting him rest for several hours to regain his strength, but he needs to get through the portal. It now or never."

Nigel gently grabbed Alfred's trunk and pulled up, trying to get the injured beast to stand up. Slowly and reluctantly, Alfred got up. Continuing to guide him, Nigel pulled him towards the portal gently. On the other side, an animal moving quickly truck waited to take him to the veterinary clinic.

Alfred continued to walk with Nigel into the holding pens, where he started to buckle. Luckily, he made it to the vehicle in time before he collapsed. Alfred collapsed inside of it, the metal creaking and groaning under his weight.

"Hey Nigel" Bob said, climbing down a ladder from the walkway. "That most certainly doesn't look like a hippo. Nigel, next time just bring your target back."

"No promises" Nigel laughed. "Anyways, we should be able to get the hippos back now. We've already gotten the Ammonite. All we need to do now is find the river and we'll have our hippos."

"Well, you oughta get going then" Bob said. "I need to move the baboons to their new home and they are not going to be happy about that."

Meanwhile at the Para-Site...

Nick had the unfortunate job of going through the tanks to feed the parasites. It wasn't an altogether difficult or dangerous process to feed them. It of the smell of the parasite's food that made it an undesirable job. Prehistoric parasites had been destroyed before the Para-Site had been created. Now, they were brought here instead of being killed.

"I hate this" Nick said as he poured a foul smelling green liquid into a chute. The chute led into a tunnel system that would distribute the liquid evenly throughout the tank. This particular tank was enormous, being the size of a sauropod's belly to house the Gastric Sauropod Worm (think of Primeval's dodo worm, but smaller, not aggressive, and unable to spread through bites or survive outside the body of it's host).

"Most of the tanks have a special type of genetically modified bacterium that is the food of most of the parasites and grow back, but is harmless to humans" Nick said to the cameraman. "However, certain species need other forms of nourishment, like artificial stomach fluids, blood, or other things that I'm not going to go into. In fact, you might want to turn your camera off for this feeding. These are Mongolian Theropod Tonsil Worms. Their eggs are spread through bites, but only through within theropods. They were supposedly brought back with the Velociraptors."

The camera went black, but you could hear the cameraman say "Ew", "disgusting", "nasty", and "I'm going to be sick". Several moments later, the camera came back on to see him rush into the staff restroom area.

It seems that something's are better left not seen, especially in the less pleasant areas of Prehistoric Park. In Miocene Africa, Nigel and Chiyo have found the hippopotamus pod. They have deployed the Ammonite and are steering towards the pod. However, other Miocene river dwellers are determined on giving him a hard time.

Nigel and Chiyo stood on the shore with Nigel keeping a steering the Ammonite, while Chiyo watched on the camera, alerting Nigel whenever he needed to turn or rise. Several minutes later, the Ammonite reached the hippos.

"Activate the portal Nigel" Chiyo said. Nigel was about to do so when something burst out of the depths and grabbed the Ammonite. A ten foot long crocodile burst out of the water with the mini sub in it's jaws. Nigel quickly activated the portal, sending the croc through to spare the relatively fragile Ammonite.

"That was a young Crocodylus Thorbjarnarsoni" Chiyo said. "I'm glad that we sent it back when we did or else the Ammonite might have been destroyed. We would have eventually rescued more to maintain genetic diversity, so it's good that we rescue it."

Nigel had once more gotten the mini sub close to the hippo pod. A young male started chasing the mini sub as a game, but Nigel and Chiyo took immediate advantage of that. They activated the portal, sending the young herbivore through to the present.

The mother rushed through to it's defense and the alpha male followed her. The rest however stayed where they were, perhaps just seeing their herd members disappear a minor inconvenience. Slowly, but steadily, the rest of the herd started disappearing one by one until none remained.

"Well that was easy" said Nigel smiling. "Let's get back to the park."

However, Nigel was interrupted by the sound of hooves beating against the ground. As the sound grew louder, so did the panicked shrieks of primates. Nigel turned around to see a herd of ungulates and ostriches stamped towards them. Chasing them were the last remnants of the Dinopithecus troop, chasing after them it appeared that the baboons were more carnivorous than originally thought.

The ungulates had very different horns between the genders. The males had butterfly-shaped horns that splayed out like a moose, while the females had horns that just looked like an oryx's. The ostriches were a strange yellow and orange combination, possibly to blend in with the grasses of the Miocene savanna.

Suddenly, a howler went out from the grass in front of the herd. The Paranthropus had been foraging for insects and figs in the tall grass. The alpha male (who Chiyo immediately named Black Beard) hollered out and the troop started to retreat. It seemed like the entire troop would make it until a young female tripped on a rock while running away.

"Chiyo come on" Nigel said, running towards the female with one of the time portal devices in his hand. Chiyo grabbed the other and followed him.

They rushed as fast as they could towards the female and set the portal up in front of her to protect her from the stampede that was nearly upon them. Just seconds before the stampede reached them, the portal flared to life and the herd rushed through.

The giant baboons shrieked in fear and retreated at the sight of seeing the portal once more. They ran away from it, tripping multiple times in their haste to escape from the swirling blue vortex. The female Paranthropus quickly got up and ran back to the safety of the troop, which were coming towards the humans to investigate.

Black Beard extended his hand and Chiyo stroked it. The troop immediately ran up to the two humans and started grooming them. Nigel activated the portal once more (which didn't seem to frighten the Paranthropus) and led them through. The holding pens were full of activity with the staff getting the strange moose-like creatures and yellow ostriches into moving trucks.

"I never got to explain what those animals are" Nigel said as Chiyo ushered the Paranthropus into a holding pen. "The ungulates are a species of giraffe and deer relative called Prolibytherium Magnieri. The males have the moose-like antlers and the females have antlers more like antelope. Those ostriches are Struthio Coppensi. They're a species of extinct ostrich. Not a lot is known about them, but they can't be that hard to take care of."

Meanwhile at Nigel's Bungalow...

Python was hungry again. He had learned how to use a broom to knock down the plastic cookie jar and cereal boxes. After the the so called "Cereal Coelophysis Incident" Nigel had put his cookies and cereal inside of the cabinets.

Python paced under the dinner table, growling with frustration, until Nigel's children woke up and opened the cabinet to get their respective cereals: Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs. Python immediately ran out of his hiding place and used their backs as a jumping platform. He quickly snagged the cereal boxes and jumped out an open window. Nigel's kids were too tired to chase him.

They went to the fridge to get an egg. Once they opened it, surprise surprise, the fridge was emptied of its contents, along with the freezer. They sighed. Nigel better approve of them having chips and crackers for breakfast.

At the newly built zone of Muerta, Nigel is observing some of the new creatures from Miocene Africa. They are now residing in their enclosures, Although one resident isn't happy.

Nigel sat on a bench as he watched the Dinopithecus and olive baboons move together throughout the rolling savanna from a bluff. Extra safety precautions had been taken with them. Forty percent of their diet consisted of meat, meaning that they had a much higher danger level than they originally let on. The Keeper Guide would have to give them a 9/10 danger level.

Nigel got up from the bench he was sitting on and walked towards the Miocene Africa exhibit. The Prolibytherium grazed together while the two mammoths species waded in the lake and explored the forest. The ostriches did their mating dances and it was possible to hear the roars of Machairodus in the South.

Nigel smiled as he next came to a glass tunnel. It was like a shark tunnel, except that it split into two halfway. One side took visitors to the Underwater Hippo Observation Center, while the other took visitors to the Giant African Crocodile Feeding Platform. The hippos were currently lounging in the lake, while the crocodiles were still exploring their territory. The crocodile lake was murky while the hippo lake was clear.

Nigel departed once more to visit the last enclosure. The Paranthropus and Ardipithecus were so far tolerating the other and some had even groomed each other. They shared the forest, but each had their own nest sites. Like gorillas, they made nests out of leaves and sticks to sleep in during the night.

Nigel departed to visit the last resident, who was less than happy. The Alfred continually paced around his exhibit, trumpeting, perhaps looking for something.

"He's looking for a new herd" Nigel said. "I would try to interrogate him to our other herd, but one of the males is especially aggressive. The Subplanifrons mammoths won't accept him him since he's a different species. We're going to try and find a suitable herd for him, but that probably won't be for a while."

Nigel walked away and past the Miocene herbivore exhibit once more. A female Prolibytherium was grooming her calf. The scene made Nigel smile, but sad at the same time. It reminded him of Cronus. Jane had quickly recovered from the shock of losing her eggs, but Cronus had tried to cling onto the past.

Nigel was pulled out of these thoughts as Python ran away from Bob and Muldoon with a box of Lucky Charms in his hands and a wallet in his mouth. Nigel smiled. Python always knew when to come at the right time and place to lighten the mood.

Next time on Prehistoric Park, Nigel and Chiyo rescue the first dinosaurs of feather and fuzz.

(a small ornithopod dinosaur herd hops around Chiyo)

Alfred joins a new herd,

(a trumpet is heard as Alfred walks towards a herd of elephants with a rhino looking)

And what is Hoskins up to?

(Vic walks into a room that says retricted on it)

All next time on Prehistoric Park!

Animals Rescued:

8 Ictitherium Syvalense: five male, three female

13 Mammuthus Subplanifrons: six male, seven female

6 Machairodus Africanavus: two male, four female

11 Ardipithecus Ramidus: four male, seven female

17 Mammuthus Africanavus: six male, eleven female

53 Dinopithecus Ingens: twenty three male, thirty female

10 Hippopotamus Gorgops: four male, six female

24 Prolibytherium Magnieri: nine male, fifteen female

11 Struthio Coppensi: six male, five female

13 Paranthropus Robustus: five male, eight female

3 Crocodylus Thorbjarnarsoni: two male, one female ( please keep in mind that Nigel and Chiyo rescue more Crocodylus Thorbjarnarsoni in a secret mission, raising this number up to six)

Secret Mission Animals:

74 Houting: 34 male, 40 female

30 Ivell's Sea Anemone: genders aren't set in stone

43 Perrin's Cave Beetle: 21 male, 22 female

20 Ratas Island Lizards: 10 male, 10 female

32 Lava Mice: 12 male, 20 female

Hundreds of Xerces Blue Butterflies

Meanwhile, on an island off the coast of San Francisco...

The nursery was filled with broken eggshells and tiny monsters. All of the assets had hatched and we're now being given their first meals. Over time, the creatures would be taught to hunt and fight. They would grow to enormous sizes and gain tremendous strength. That would keep future guests entertained.

A man in the darkness smiled. It looked like the very dark itself was smiling.

Prehistoric Park would enjoy itself while it could. But then the new park would come out. The man smiled at the thought at how fast the public would leave them. They always went for what they wanted, not what was true.

If you wanted to appeal to the guests, you had to show them what they expected, not what was accurate. Prehistoric Park had showed them what was accurate. But guests didn't want that. They wanted real life monsters.

The man ran his hand down a newly hatched asset. It was a tiny creature, no bigger than his thumb, but it would brow to be the size of a cat. It was green and had a long neck and tail with a slender snout with needle sharp teeth. Unlike what was accurate it had no feathers. These creatures were given the codename Pets. The man stroked the creature, which had already imprinted on him.

The man smiled again. He had the cover story made up. No time portal or embryos, but clones brought back from blood inside of Amber. He didn't care what scientists said. If the public was told something, no matter how stupid, they would believe it. However, that wasn't what was really going on inside of this park of iron bars.

The man paused for a moment before grinning again. He liked the sound of that. This was his island, his land, his park. His Prehistoric Prison. His Jurassic World. His island of monsters.

His Iron Bar Park.