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- Herausgeber: Little Tiger Press
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Serie: Little Animal Rescue
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
Fliss loves animals and will do anything to save them! Join her on her adventures to save wild animals in danger. What starts out as a school trip to the zoo for Fliss and her classmates ends up being the adventure of a lifetime when Fliss is magically whisked away to the Serengeti! There she finds a little lost lion cub, separated from its family, and Fliss is determined to reunite them. But with only a bottle of water, half a sandwich and her instinct to guide her across the plains, is she ready to face the wild? Little Lion Rescue is perfect for fans of Holly Webb, the ZOE'S RESCUE ZOO series and animal-lovers everywhere!
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Seitenzahl: 65
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This is dedicated to my grandmother, Rosemary, who loved animals and fought for their rights – Rachel
Contents
1
The Big Clean-Up
“Oh, yuck! You’re covered in elephant dung!” Ella held her nose and pointed at Fliss’s overalls.
“You can’t muck out elephants without getting a little bit dirty.” Fliss grinned. “If you’re clean, it means you didn’t work hard enough!”
“I’d rather be lazy than stinky,” Ella said, flicking mud and straw from her fingers.
Jonty, the zookeeper, clapped his hands together loudly.
“Wheelbarrows down, everyone,” he called. “Gather round.”
The girls joined the rest of their school group at the gate, where Jonty laughed at the state of them.
“So how was that? Smelly?”
Everyone made poowee noises and giggled.
“Elephants eat for up to sixteen hours a day, which means they produce a lot of … muck. If you look behind you, you’ll see the elephants waiting to come back into the enclosure.”
The giant grey beasts were behind the next gate, their ears flapping gently.
“I hope they say thank you to us for cleaning their house!” Ella said.
“I think they’ll be very pleased,” Jonty said. “Can you see how their tails are swishing from side to side? It means they’re happy.”
“How do we know when they’re not happy?” Fliss asked. She wished she had brought a book to take notes.
“I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with these animals in the wild,” Jonty said. “I’ve seen them in all sorts of moods. If their tails go stiff or they spread their ears out wide, then they may be nervous. If they make a trumpeting sound, then get out of there fast! It could mean they’re about to charge.”
Fliss closed her eyes and imagined it – a happy herd of elephants suddenly startled, ears wide and trunks raised, trumpeting their alarm… Jonty clapped his hands again and she opened her eyes, hoping no one had seen her daydreaming.
“Right, these beauties need to come in and cool off in the water. You lot could do with some cooling off, too! Your teacher says there’s ice cream waiting for you in the school centre, just as soon as you get out of those overalls. Off to the wash room!”
There was a big cheer as the children hurried out of the enclosure, shouting “Ice cream, ice cream!”. Fliss was the last to go. She would stay forever if she could, even if it was smelly.
She tugged the zookeeper’s sleeve. “My name is Fliss. Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” Over her head, he beckoned to the other zookeepers, who began to lead the herd back into the enclosure. Fliss watched them in wonder – how did these large animals move so gracefully?
“Fliss, did you have a question?”
“Yes. Sorry!” Fliss blushed. “I just wanted to know how you became a zookeeper.”
“Well, I knew what I wanted to do from a very young age. I learned all I could about animals and when I was old enough I volunteered at rescue centres all over Africa. It took a lot of patience and passion but now I’m here, in charge of elephants and lions. It’s my perfect job.”
“You’re so lucky being with animals all day long.”
“Is this what you want to do when you grow up?”
“I want to be a vet,” Fliss said. “I want to help animals who are in trouble.”
“Being a vet is a tough job!” Jonty said. “But it looks to me like you have determination. That’s a great start.”
“Jonty?” Fliss said, thinking of something. “If you’re in charge of the lions, does that mean you can tell them to wake up?” She had been so excited for the zoo trip but with a particular longing to see those proud creatures up close. The empty enclosure had left her feeling disappointed.
Jonty laughed. “It’s not that simple, I’m afraid. I’m sorry your group didn’t get to see them but if they wake before you go, I’ll come and get you, OK?”
In the distance, Fliss could hear her friends calling. She wasn’t interested in ice cream. She just wanted to talk to Jonty about animals.
“You’d better go,” Jonty said, steering her towards the school centre. “The elephants are coming and you’re not a professional animal handler – not yet, anyway.”
After changing out of her overalls, Fliss found Ella in the school centre, covered in splodges of pink-and-white gunk.
“So, you don’t mind getting dirty sometimes,” Fliss said.
“No!” Ella licked the sticky liquid dripping down her wrist. “I don’t mind getting messy when it’s with ice cream. Are you going to have one?”
“I’m too excited to eat!” Fliss unfolded her map of the zoo and pointed to an area called Pride of Place – the lion enclosure. “The zookeeper said he’d come and get us as soon as they wake up. Isn’t that great?”
“If they wake up, Flissy. Come on, it’s the butterfly house next.”
“You’d better wash your hands, then. Butterflies love sugar! They’ll lick you all over with their long curly tongues.”
Ella shrieked and ran to the wash room and Fliss smiled.
The butterfly house was going to be fun, especially now Ella was in a flap! But as they walked through the rubber doors and into the steamy room full of colourful fluttering wings, she hoped that Jonty would soon interrupt with the news that the lions had woken up.
2
Free to Roam
“Urgh, it was so sticky and hot in there,” Ella gasped, flapping her hands in front of her face.
“It’s because the exotic butterflies need a tropical temperature,” said Fliss. “I loved the big blue ones, didn’t you?”
“No! All I could think about were those tongues!” Ella wrinkled her nose. “I watched one drinking… Fliss, the tongue actually rolled out! Butterflies are monsters!”
The teachers did a headcount of all the children, most of whom were looking soggy after their butterfly encounter. Mr Pincent was looking particularly hot and frazzled but it wasn’t because of the butterfly house. Apparently, Ollie, Dan and Sarah had crept off to have another look at the crocodiles without permission and were now completely lost!
“Mrs Mullins and I are going to look for some lost pupils. The rest of you may take a last walk around the zoo,” Mr Pincent said, dabbing at his face with a handkerchief. “Stay in pairs and meet back at the gift shop in fifteen minutes.”
“Anyone who is late will sit at the front of the coach on the way back, next to me,” Mrs Mullins added sternly.
Before she’d even finished speaking, Fliss had grabbed Ella’s hand and was pulling her along the walkway.
“Whoa there, Flissy! What’s the rush?”
“We’ve only got fifteen minutes and there’s so much to see! Come on, this way.”
“You’re dragging me to the lions, aren’t you?” Ella said, jogging to keep up. “I bet that’s where we’re going.”
“Yup!” Fliss grinned. “I’ve got a feeling I’m going to meet one today.”
All around them, the zoo rang with the cheeps and hoots of birds and animals, but Pride of Place was disappointingly quiet. Fliss read everything on the information boards
