500 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean is Mauritius and 15 miles further north is Round Island. There, the last hurricane palm sways in the breeze. Scientists are trying desperately to save this species. To learn more, I spoke with Dr. Yama Bahama.
DK: How do you know this is the last palm tree of its kind?
Dr. Bahama: When we found no females to germinate new palms,
we ran an ad on eHarmony, “Tall, Green and Handsome Male Round Island Palm
seeks female companion to join him in an island paradise. Fertility a must!” No
tree answered our ad, but we did hear from several actresses wanting to play
trees.
DK: Then what did you do?
Dr. Bahama: We found some seeds from the last female palm, a
tree that died in 1994, and we were able to germinate them with the male.
DK: That sounds very exciting!
Dr. Bahama: We thought so too! But just like peyote, people
chewing those seeds get very high, and I haven’t seen my team in two days.
Anytime now they’re going to need Fritos, and afterward, we will start again.
With Love To All - Dick
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