Wild Animals ?
	I had seen many National Geographic specials. I was looking forward to seeing many wild animals in Africa when I arrived in Mali. The actual situation is much different. There are very few 'wild animals' in Mali, and in many other parts of Africa. Many of the large groups of animals are confined to preserves or relatively localized areas. In Mali, there are many domesticated animals like donkeys, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc..In the north, there are camels. In certain environments, you can find many snakes, spiders, and scorpians. But there is only a very small herd of elephants in one part of the country, no lions to speak of, or giraffes, or rhinos, and few monkeys.  There are some hippos and crocodiles in the Niger River..... you do NOT want to get to close to them. More people are killed by hippos than any other wild animal in Mali. As recently as the 1960's and 70's, many more animals were seen. Where did they go? I have heard 2 responses to that question. One, the natives gradually hunted-out the animals. The other response is that white hunters came in great numbers, some in helicopters with machine guns, and mowed down whole herds of animals for sport. I hurt when I heard that. Perhaps the answer is somewhere in between.