The Wildlife Games (6 page)

THE GROUP WAS FILMED AS THEY
walked with Bindi over to the large lemur enclosure. There were three ring-tailed lemurs bouncing from one side of the enclosure to the other, excited by the arrival of the visitors.

Anastasia's earlier haughtiness completely disappeared when she entered the lemur's area
behind Bindi. ‘Aren't they just the most gorgeous creatures?' she said, holding out an arm. One of the ringtails jumped straight onto it.

‘Oh, look, he obviously likes you,' said Mimi, looking a little less sure of herself as she entered the enclosure. She was comfortable around birds. The Daintree didn't have an awful lot of monkeys or lemurs though, so she felt a little out of her depth here.

‘Ah, that's Betafo. Watch it, he may be –' Bindi stopped as the lemur started checking out Anastasia's pockets – ‘looking for food,' Bindi finished as Betafo pulled out a hair-tie, a mascara wand and a plastic-covered mint from Ana's jacket.

Anastasia wasn't fazed. ‘Hey, this guy is a major pickpocket,' she said as she grabbed back her items.

Bindi handed out some grapes to the four kids. ‘Try giving him these instead.'

Anastasia handed Betafo a grape. ‘This is much better for you than the mint, okay?'

The lemur snatched the grape and quickly popped it into his mouth.

Bindi grinned. Anastasia really was a natural around animals. It was that other species, humans, that she rubbed up the wrong way.

The other ringtails saw food and came running. A lot of their enrichment activities involved food and finding it, and they had just worked out that these children were their latest enrichment activity.

The kids dissolved in giggles as the lemurs climbed over them in a bid to get to the most food first. The film crew were also laughing and poor
Ginny the camerawoman had to try hard to keep her camera steady and in focus.

The competitors no longer looked like competitors – they looked like a group of kids who were getting tickled to death by a gang of ring-tailed lemurs. It was television magic.

Once all the grapes had gone, Bindi asked the contestants to line up in a row. She called Betafo and his little mate Mandabe over to her. ‘Now, these two are our smartest lemurs. They'll be deciding the order in which you complete the treetops challenge. Guys, go to it.'

The lemurs seemed to know exactly what was asked of them. They both jumped directly onto Declan, one on each shoulder.

‘Okay, Declan's first up.'

Declan moved away from the rest of the group,
pleased, and the lemurs next moved onto Anastasia, then Jason, then Mimi.

Then they jumped back onto Bindi's shoulder, job done. Bindi gave them a couple of grapes. ‘Great work, guys. Thanks for your help.'

As they headed back to the treetops challenge, Declan said to the group, ‘I think those lemurs are incredible. Did you know that they evolved at a different pace from other simians on the African mainland when Madagascar became an island?'

Bindi smiled. ‘Yes, they're called prosimians for that reason, meaning “pre-monkey”. It's thought that because Madagascar didn't have many predators, the lemurs didn't have to work as hard to stay alive as the other species that were left on the African mainland with carnivores that would think nothing of eating a monkey or two for lunch.'

Mimi frowned. ‘It makes me think, you know. Would humans evolve quicker if we were threatened by a large predator?'

Bindi raised her eyebrows. ‘That's an interesting question, isn't it?'

Declan added, ‘Perhaps we have a predator already, and it's just taking its time to strike?'

Anastasia shivered. ‘Uggh, you're freaking me out. What do you mean? Like an alien invasion or something?'

Jason shook his head. ‘I think he means climate change.'

Declan nodded as Jason continued. ‘Or overpopulation. In both cases we're creating our own “predator”. Something that may end up wiping us out if we don't change the way we live.'

Mimi looked serious. ‘It's all about learning how to live sustainably. That's what I'm always telling the tourists at our eco-resort.'

Anastasia looked over at Mimi, thoughtful. ‘It's all very well to say things like that when you're walking through a rainforest or whatever, but it's harder to do when you live in a big city and everything seems to involve using petrol or electricity or plastic.'

‘I agree with you. It's hard, but it's still important to be aware of it, and make changes where you can.'

Anastasia nodded. ‘Yeah, I know what you're saying.'

There was a pause in conversation as the group exchanged looks. Whatever had just passed between them, it felt important. It wasn't about
the TV cameras. This conversation had come from the heart.

Bindi felt a welling of pride. Not only were these teenagers here to help raise money for the wildlife hospital, they were taking the time to talk about serious issues. These were different people from different parts of the country, and they could look totally self-obsessed or introverted but were still able to discuss subjects that really mattered to them and to all humanity in the decades to come.

She rounded up the team in an impromptu group hug. ‘You guys are awesome,' she said, a lump in her throat.

They shared a quiet hug until Anastasia announced, ‘Don't think just because we're all loved-up that I'm not going to whip your hides in the treetops challenge.'

Jason laughed. ‘Bring it!'

The kids all raced towards the flying fox, re-energised.

THERE WERE NO SURPRISES IN
this challenge, although Mimi was pleased to find she quite enjoyed it in the end, as long as she tried to concentrate on birds that were flying overhead and made sure she never looked down. But Jason finished with the fastest time,
followed closely by Anastasia, Declan and then Mimi.

Bindi also let the contestants know the results of the food challenge.

Anastasia had won this challenge, getting full marks. Mimi came a close second, followed by Declan and Jason in joint third place.

‘So Anastasia is in the lead at this point, with Jason running a close second,' announced Bindi, ‘but as you know, the audience will vote on your performance so the overall winner won't be known until the Wildlife Games have been televised.'

The group was left to chew on this as Bindi grabbed a quick sandwich before meeting her friend Josie and Josie's cousin at the main entrance.

Tara, after the morning's mishap with Jason, was trying not to let any of the talent out of her sight. ‘Bindi, it would be better if you stayed put.'

‘Tara, I won't be long, okay?'

The coordinator frowned. ‘All right. But you need to be at the cheetah run at 1.15, which is in 45 minutes.'

Bindi nodded. ‘No problem, I'll be there. These guys will be fine wandering around by themselves. I just want to say hi to Josie.' She waved bye to the contestants and headed to meet her friend.

Bindi arrived at the main entrance to the zoo moments later, a little hot and sweaty. Which turned out to be a bit embarrassing. Josie hadn't
mentioned that her cousin was a guy, and was, you know, not bad-looking. The cousins were both looking immaculate in crisp T-shirts and clean shorts. It was clear their morning had not involved feeding crocs, mixing up zoo food for the animals and getting climbed on by lemurs.

Josie had an inkling of what was going through Bindi's mind and gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Bindi, this is my cousin, Andrew. Andrew, this is Bindi Irwin.'

‘Hi Bindi. Really nice to meet you.' He held out his hand for her to shake. She surreptitiously wiped her hand on the leg of her shorts but she knew her hand was still pretty clammy when she shook Andrew's.

‘Hi Andrew, I didn't realise Josie's cousin was a boy,' she said, glancing pointedly at Josie.

Josie's grin just got bigger. ‘Well, now you do.'

‘How's the filming for
The Wildlife Games
going?' Andrew asked. ‘Josie told me it was your idea. That's so awesome.'

Bindi was finally starting to cool down, which was a big relief. But the relief was short-lived. She now realised she hadn't been to the toilet for hours and hours, and that she really needed to go.

‘Yes, good,' she said vaguely, after remembering that she'd been asked a question.

Josie looked quizzically at her friend. ‘Um, how long do you have before you need to go back to your TV show?'

Bindi's bladder was saying ‘TOILET, NOW!' It was not safe to ignore it any longer. ‘Umm, look, I just need to head over there –' she pointed in the
general direction of the bathrooms – ‘Why don't you start with the rhinoceros iguana, followed by the alligators over in that direction, and I'll catch you up, okay?'

‘Okay. See you soon then.' The cousins walked off, Josie beginning to point out various landmarks.

Bindi berated herself. Why and when had it become embarrassing to mention that you needed to go to the toilet in front of a good-looking guy? Totally ridiculous! If it had just been Josie, it would have been no big deal. She sprinted off towards the toilet.

Josie and Andrew were checking out the ancient alligators when Bindi caught up with them a few moments later.

‘Hi guys, I'm back.'

Josie gave her friend a hug. ‘Great. We were just talking about how amazing it is that reptiles live to be so old.'

Andrew nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yeah, Bindi. Imagine, if these guys could talk, what could they tell you about all the things they've seen?'

Bindi smiled. ‘That's such a good question. Up until a few years ago we had Harriet the giant Galapagos tortoise with us. She had been brought to Australia in 1842 by a friend of Charles Darwin's. I remember celebrating her 175th birthday! That tortoise had firsthand knowledge of white settlement in Australia!'

‘It's incredible that these reptiles are built to last so long and we only last around 80 years if we're lucky,' said Andrew.

Bindi's walkie-talkie buzzed. ‘Bindi, are you
there, over?'

It was Tara. Bindi picked up and pressed the receive button. ‘Yes, I'm with Josie, Tara. Everything okay?'

There was a moment's hesitation before Tara continued. ‘Well, not exactly. There's been a slight . . . incident, over?'

Bindi gripped the walkie-talkie, worried. ‘What kind of incident, over?'

‘It would be better if you came over to the food hall and saw for yourself . . . before the ambulance gets here,' said Tara meekly.

‘Oh my gosh! I'll be there in two seconds, over!'

She turned to Josie and Andrew guiltily. Josie gave her a quick hug. ‘Go, we'll be fine.'

‘I'm so sorry, I –' started Bindi.

Josie shook her head. ‘Go!'

Bindi nodded, gave an apologetic half-wave to Andrew and took off, tearing across the grounds of the zoo once more, this time back in the direction of the food hall.