The Wildlife Games by Bindi Irwin Read Free Book Online Page B

psychological advantage by pretending she’s nervous and scared.’
    Both Declan and Jason looked from Anastasia to Mimi questioningly.
    Mimi shook her head. ‘I wish that were true.’
    Anastasia wasn’t willing to let it go. ‘Well, we’ll find out soon, won’t we? Bindi, who goes first?’
    â€˜We’ll let the lemurs decide that one,’ replied Bindi mysteriously.

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 areabehind Bindi. ‘Aren’t they just the most gorgeous creatures?’ she said, holding out an arm. One of the ringtails jumped straight onto it.
    â€˜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.
    â€˜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 poorGinny 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.
    â€˜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