The Dark Jungle

By Philip Ramsey and Kate Northover

A jungle-based fable with animal characters, incorporating principles of systems thinking. Billibonk the elephant works with two mice, Frankl and Tori, to find out why the jungle is getting darker. They discover that chimpanzees in the jungle have changed their behavior. The bad behavior of young chimps, including bullying, has torn the communit

• Language: English
• Publisher: System Dynamics Society
• Release date: Apr 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9781935056287

Philip Ramsey

Dr. Phil Ramsey is a Senior Lecturer at Massey University in New Zealand, where he teaches Organizational Learning, Leadership and Teamwork. He also works as a Director of Incite Learning, a consulting company that mainly works with schools, helping school leaders apply Organizational Learning concepts to solve tough problems.

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Resources

Access additional materials for the Billibonk book series, including videos and posters, at https://bit.ly/BillibonkResources

For resources about how to incorporate and discuss systems thinking concepts in the classroom or with your children, visit the System Dynamics Society's Pre-College Education Special Interest Group page: https://bit.ly/SDSPreCollegeEdSIG

Part 1

1

Shoots

Billibonk was bored. He needed something to do.

The last two weeks had been hot and humid. It was exhausting just to breathe. When the weather is hot like that, you need a very good reason to do anything. Even eating was starting to seem like too much effort.

But today was cooler. Billibonk had sensed the change as soon as he woke up. And now he felt ready for activity. Maybe an adventure. Or perhaps a walk along the river to check what other animals were doing. I really should start with breakfast, he thought.

Billibonk looked around the clearing where the elephant herd was camped. It was a nice spot, near the river, on the edge of the jungle. It was an easy stroll from here down to the water. Or he could follow one of the paths into the dense trees of the jungle. In the jungle, the trees grew so closely together that they formed a canopy that blocked out most of the sun. While that meant the jungle was cooler, the elephant herd liked to stay together and preferred to spend most of their time in the large open areas of Knith.

As Billibonk pondered what to do, he heard rustling and crashing in the trees on the edge of the deep jungle, and his friend Cody emerged from one of the more overgrown paths.

Billibonk greeted his friend, Hey, Cody! You’re up and about early.

Cody snorted. He swung his head to look in Billibonk’s direction and grunted, I don’t know why you’re so happy. What a miserable day. And he stamped around, showing his displeasure by kicking up as much dust as he could.

Billibonk snorted as the dust irritated his trunk. What is your problem? he asked.

My problem, Cody announced, is that nothing is going right today. He stamped his foot again for emphasis. I slept on my trunk last night, and it still hurts. The weather has been so hot I’ve got a headache. The jungle is full of annoying little animals. And I can’t even find any shoots to eat!

The last piece of news startled Billibonk. The best thing—maybe the only good thing—about the kind of weather they had been having is that it created the perfect growing conditions for fern shoots. These were an elephant delicacy: juicy, crunchy, and with a slight peppery taste. Every elephant Billibonk knew loved them, and he was no different. What do you mean? he asked, urgently.

I’ve just spent an hour stumbling around in the jungle and I couldn’t find a single shoot.

Billibonk was perplexed. Did you look in the places where there is extra light? he asked. If you go where there’s light and sweep away the leaves on the ground, that’s where you can find shoots growing.

Cody’s ears flapped with anger. Are you telling me how to find shoots?! he demanded. I’m the best shoot-finder in the herd. Don’t tell me where to look! And he stamped away. As he turned, Billibonk noticed that there were splotches of what looked like fruit all over Cody’s back.

There were times when a friend’s angry outburst would have left Billibonk feeling sad and hurt. But today was different. Cody had given Billibonk just what he wanted: a mystery to solve.

He would have to find his friend, Frankl. Frankl was a mouse who lived in a large thorn patch alongside the river of Knith. Billibonk and Frankl solved mysteries together. Billibonk was sure they could uncover the reason for the missing shoots.

2

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