full and was enough to shine some evening light over the picturesque landscape. The beauty of the many stars that accompanied the night sky brought some further pristine evening atmosphere for the land's inhabitants to witness. Even some members of Mheetu's pride were lying on their backs gazing up at them. This included the alpha male himself and his nephew, who lay next to each other a little distance away from their fellow lionesses so that they could get some alone time together.

"The night sky is so beautiful with the moonlight and all the stars." Kopa said to his uncle. "This is just the thing to do after a hard working day."

"Yes, nothing like capping off a beautiful sunny day out in the savannah than to go stargazing." Mheetu replied with satisfactory relaxation. "To do it pretty much every day and night in this beautiful place in the world is like paradise."

"Yeah." Kopa replied dreamily. "I don't think that I can ever leave this place." His mind then suddenly focused on the range of rarely-elsewhere-seen fauna within the reserve. The vast variety of geographical features and mixed climatic conditions within the National Park also further intrigued Kopa's mind. "It is not just beautiful but it also seems so sacred with all the different species of animal and vast landscape contents." He then added from this thought. "In all my years I have not seen any other place like this one."

"Yes, it is very special." Mheetu remarked, catching on to what Kopa was talking about. "We should consider ourselves, and the rest of our pride in general, lucky for being able to roam free here because this place demands for preservation and conservation."

"Why?" Kopa asked.

"There is something that you need to learn about this place, my nephew. I believe it is time you understood as you have now come of age."

"I'm all ears, Uncle Mheetu." Kopa, ready to be further educated, responded with a serious listening face.

"As this land is situated between the dry and moist climates in this part of Africa, it gets a variety of mixed weather patterns. There will be dry and sunny spells and there will also be rainy and stormy spells; and the combination of these will usually keep the grass and forests green as well as comfortable conditions for all fauna to survive. Therefore this is a comfortably inhabitable home, and because this climate is near perfect for living, so many animals that you would rarely see elsewhere roam here to make the most out of the resources to survive." He then looked at his nephew. "Are there any animals you have seen here that are different from the rest?"

Kopa thought for a minute. He was very positive that some of the fauna in Marakele was never seen back in his old home in the Pride Lands in Kenya, or on any of his occasional travels on the African continent for that matter.

"I believe there are a few different looking antelope," Kopa responded. "and a species of vulture that I have never seen so big and have an interesting colour pattern."

"That is right." Mheetu confirmed. "The type of antelope in this land includes spiral horned kudu, reedbuck, mountain reedbuck, eland and tsessebe. Each species of antelope is unique in their own way, and although we hunt and eat them, we must respect the beautiful animals that they are and what this land means to their existence as they may not be able to safely roam elsewhere."

"I see." An intrigued young lion responded. "And yes, I could see that they are very unique animals, so I do have a lot of respect for them."

"But it is even more important..." Mheetu continued with a lightly serious commander's tone in his voice. "...to respect the most sacred creatures of this land that is the endangered cape vultures. These huge birds would be even harder to find anywhere else on this continent due to the fact that human activity that occurs outside of these borders has diminished their population. That would include hunting for game and incorrect use of chemicals that they use to protect their livestock from predators."

Kopa shuddered slightly when he heard this. The thought of human invasion on wildlife scared him and it was something he hoped he would never have to witness or defend from as he believed animals were no match for the many weapons they could possess.

"There is no need to be afraid, my nephew." Mheetu remarked when he noticed Kopa shuddering in fear. "This land is so sacred for these many reasons that it is under protection and all game and human traps are banned, so we are more than safe."

"Really glad to hear that." Kopa replied in relief.

"So..." Mheetu continued. "...because it is so protected, so are the cape vultures. As a result they have been able to produce the world's largest breeding colonies, so this gives them a chance to continue to exist. That goes for all the fauna that inhabit this land. Such a peaceful and habitable  home is hard to find but is really considered a 'survival ground', so there is hope for all those animals whose species are in danger of decline if they are willing to find what they need to stay alive."

Kopa thought deep about this and considered how lucky he was to roam in such a special place.

"And I want you to know, my nephew, that if you continue to live here, remember to respect these sacred creatures and give them a chance to thrive. Do everything that you desire and cherish the wonders of Marakele, but never forget about the values that makes this National Park what it is."

"I promise that I will always respect the sacredness and values that this land holds." Kopa replied proudly. 

"This will be my return favor for what it has offered me."

"So I take it you are happy here?" Mheetu asked.

"I have never been happier and it would be hard for me to leave." Kopa admitted, but that thought suddenly made him think about his family again. He thought back to when he was a cub and how his early years also seemed very happy around his royal king and queen parents. He remembered that he was especially very close to his father when they spent so much time together during the young lion's kingdomship education. Kopa was very obedient and willing to do what was asked of him because, like his father, he would also look forward to one day taking over the throne. But their time together was also filled with many playful moments as well as stories of his father's past, and so this brought them even closer. Therefore it was for these reasons that Kopa was also missing his old home. But that wasn't the only thing he was missing. He could not get his closest childhood friend, or maybe love, out of his mind.

"What are you thinking about, Kopa?" Mheetu asked, noticing his nephew drifting off into thought.

"Oh!" Kopa jumped out of his thoughts. "Nothing." He didn't have too much time to think and just came out with one of the most common replies, even though he knew that it was not very smart.

"Come on, Kopa." Mheetu replied in suspicion. He could tell something was up with his nephew. "You can tell your uncle. I noticed a change in your facial expression after you spoke and you looked back up to the sky. You looked like you were concerned about something. Am I right?"

Kopa felt slight annoyance on the inside because his uncle had noticed him deep in thought. But he also knew that Mheetu was very good at reading others from their exterior behaviour, so anyone trying to hide anything from him would have to front up about it. Well, he is my uncle and he should understand if tell him. Kopa thought. And I believe he can be trusted.

"Well," Kopa began to reply. "as we were just talking about home, that got me thinking about my old home."

"The Pride Lands?"

"Yes."

"Are you missing it?"

"It is hard to say." Kopa continued, still feeling a little downhearted at the thought of it. "It has been so long since I have seen my mum and dad, so I guess I am missing them more. If there was just a chance that I could see them again, I would let them know that I am alive and that everything is alright. Then at least they will know and they can be at peace." In truth there was more to this, but Kopa decided to hide the remainder of the story because it seemed a little more personal. He knew that there would be another time to one day reveal it to his uncle.

His nephew's words got Mheetu thinking about his own place there when he himself was a cub. He remembered that he had also been banished from the Pride Lands from the moment that Scar had taken over because Mheetu was male and he was seen in the late Mufasa's brother's eyes as a threat to his place on the throne. If only he could let his sister, Nala, know that he was alive as well as the fact that he also missed her a lot. That included the fact that he only got to see their mother, Sarafina, during their youth. He never even knew his own father. So all of this was playing on Mheetu's mind and he was sharing the loath with his nephew.

"I know how you feel, Kopa." Mheetu replied after his thought. "I suppose I miss your mother, too. It all seemed to go too quickly before I was forced to leave, so I wished that I could have spent more time with her and my own mother."

"Well, do you think it would be possible to pay the Royal Family a visit? Not necessarily to move back there because of how much this place means to us, but just to take a short vacation and have a nice family

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