Endangered Species

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joylani 130pxPudu is a species of really small deer (I have heard they are the smallest, but I am pretty sure I saw more dainty ones in a museum in Brunei).  It is really rare to actually see one, and our minibus had the unfortunate happenstance to hit one.  It was so small that until the drive stopped a ways down the road and everyone started getting out, I didn’t realize we had hit anything at all (it was a pretty bumpy ride already).  We were the only tourists on the bus, but everyone was equally in awe of seeing such a rare creature.  For a few minutes our small group solemnly stood on the side of the road watching it.  And then one of the men picked it up to take it to the side of the road.  He propped it up over a log, in a hunting pose, as another passenger snapped a photo.  After trying a few positions to place the dying animal, he settled on placing it behind the log, out of view from the road.  From the posing, to the placing, to actual realization that our driver and bus contributed to the possible extinction of this little animal, the whole event was a bit surreal for something (road kill) that is generally mundane.

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