a) The upcoming dissertation on zoos
b) Ongoing re-development at the lakes
c) Wishful thinking (hippos are my favourite animals)
In this latest dream, plans were being set forth for a small zoo on campus to push the site as a 'green space' and therefore make it more attractive to international students. My MA supervisor and I were unhappy with the scheme, believing it would compromise the animals' welfare and pose a danger to students. It wasn't just hippos they were planning on bringing in, there was already a very large Nile crocodile floating around, with later plans for introducing polar bears. As outlandish as this combination seems, these species are frequently thrown together in my dreams.
I went down to the muddy borders of the lake to make a preliminary inspection as part of the Wild Writing team, intending to write it up as a habitat management plan. An iron railing had been erected around the perimeter, over which I watched the lone crocodile motionless in the water. Only its ridged back and top of the head showed on the surface. A big green specimen some 9 feet in length, it was more than capable of making short work of anyone foolish enough to go for a swim. The hippos, along with some extra crocodiles, were later delivered, and I returned the following day to see them.
Highly territorial creatures, the hippos were clearly distressed by their new surroundings and were not at all happy to be sharing it with their reptilian neighbours and natural sworn enemies. Fighting for space, caked in mud, and catching all manner of local diseases, it was like witnessing a scene from primordial times; a heaving, churning mass of savage water behemoths battling for supremacy and survival. The watercolour 'Duria Antiquior' by Henry De la Beche came to mind, as it frequently does when presented with the raw, 'red in tooth and claw' aspects of nature.
After witnessing this distressing sight and discovering that the plans for polar bears were still going ahead, I wiped my hands of the project and decided to write a damning critique instead. I also began researching reintroduction sites in Africa for when the ludicrous campus zoo came to its inevitable end. The theme of animals being squashed together in unsanitary, claustrophobic environments features an awful lot in my unconscious and is a constant source of inspiration for creative works.
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