Forest protection starts with picking up a lynx girl

Chapter 293 Release Storm
In three days, the lion's wound healing was completely improved.

Professor Pang and Ding Wen had already left to attend their academic forum, and Chen Ying stayed to assist in the treatment and care of the lioness.

Professor Careys received news the night before that someone had sneaked into the national park again to poach antelopes, buffaloes and other animals.

"These animals are a vital food source for West African lions, which have seen their range shrink by 95 percent due to farmland expansion, wildfires and poaching."

The two students who were responsible for cooperating with Chen Ying to take care of the lioness squatted aside. While watching Chen Ying pet the big cat, they talked to him about the difficulties Panthera encountered here.

Poaching exists in every country, but it is particularly serious in underdeveloped countries.

"But fortunately, Panthera has been providing funding for the three ranger teams in the national park to equip them with weapons and vehicles. Several other ranger teams are also funded, and they can basically protect the entire park."

The work of the National Park Service and Panthera has been effective, and the lion group that was on the verge of extinction seems to have at least been maintained for now.

"This lioness is a member of a small lion group. Their lion group has four lionesses and one lion. In addition, there is an alliance of three male lions in the adjacent territory."

The girl, whose skin was tanned by the sun, had eyes that sparkled when she talked about the lion group.

The other three lionesses in that lion group are a little older, and this little lioness is an important force for the continuation of the lion group.

"We just want it to recover quickly. According to our observations, the female lions in the pride will enter the estrus period in one or two months."

The females in a pride are synchronized, which ensures that the cubs within a population are basically the same size.

Moreover, lioness feed their cubs in groups, not necessarily just their own cubs.

Lionesses without children will also take care of the cubs in the population, licking their fur and playing with them.

"The male lion of this small lion group defeated the old lion to take the throne last year. He doesn't have his own children yet, so he will probably have his own cubs this year. But the three male lions next to them are always watching them, and they might fight to the death for the female lion at any time."

After listening to this, Chen Ying scratched the lioness's ear.

"Did you hear me? Why don't you just eat your food? Go home as soon as possible. Don't you want a child of your own?"

The lioness roared and raised her hands to cover her ears.

Don't listen to the bastard chanting sutras.

It doesn't want to have cubs. It would be fine if it just helps to take care of the children, or it can be responsible for catching prey and bringing it back.

The lioness stood up, ran away quickly, and lay down in the corner on the other side, still holding the ball made of cowhide that Chen Ying gave it in its mouth.

To be honest, that ball is really ugly, but the lioness likes it very much. She takes it wherever she goes and lives almost like a dog.

After chatting about gossip, Chen Ying began to tell the two students how to diagnose and treat bone injuries.

The video footage of the lioness is the best teaching tool. It's a pity that the person who took the photo of it was not very skilled. If he had done it instead, it would definitely be much more detailed.

Even so, the two students learned a lot of Chinese orthopedic knowledge which they thought was magical.

Chen Ying also used local herbs to make "earth mosquito coils". After lighting the tightly bundled herbs, she extinguished the open flame and used the smoke to drive away mosquitoes.

And because it is a medicinal herb, the smell when it is simmered is not pungent, but instead has a medicinal aroma.

The lioness didn't like the smell very much and growled at Chen Ying to put it away.

That night, the professor and his people returned.

Although the group of people were tired, they looked very happy.

"This time we successfully disrupted a poaching operation and an antelope escaped."

Professor Carris smiled so hard that his teeth were showing.

"Very good, that's it. Those poachers had better get away from me."

Chen Ying could understand their excitement, but after listening to the two students' descriptions of the poachers in the past few days, he didn't think that group of people would give up.

One month passed quickly.

The lioness recovered well.

After evaluation, Professor Carris' team decided to release it back to its own population.

Chen Ying completed her work successfully and also demonstrated her acupuncture and medicinal fumigation treatment skills, which were highly praised by Professor Everett, who even filmed a video at the time and recommended it to his colleagues and friends.

"Chen, have you decided to leave? Can't you stay and join my team?"

"I'm sorry, Professor Carris, I still have a research project that I haven't completed yet." Chen Ying shrugged and rubbed the lioness's head with a smile, "I hope we can have a chance to work together again in the future."

"Of course, I'm looking forward to seeing you perform miracles again." Caris smiled happily.

She and her team called Chen Ying a "magical oriental doctor", especially Chen Ying's super affinity with wild animals and his acupuncture skills, which almost overturned the worldview of Professor Carris' team.

"We're going to send it back tomorrow. Will you come with us?"

Of course I have to go. Chen Ying has been here for so long and has basically never left the courtyard.

Firstly, this place is far away from the city and there is nothing to see. Secondly, once he leaves, the two students will not be able to feed and change the medicine for the lioness.

At 4:30 in the morning, with Chen Ying's comfort, the lioness was put into a cage and then loaded into a truck to set off.

It’s not far from here, only about eighteen kilometers.

But don't think that you can reach these 18 kilometers quickly.

West Africa is different from China. There are no cement roads connecting every village.

Larger places may have roads that are easier to drive on. For small villages in the forests of national parks like this, having a dirt road is considered relatively well-developed.

The poachers here don't drive in, they all ride bicycles.

So on the road, you can tell whether someone is a poacher by just looking at the traces.

When they arrived at the river, Professor Carris arranged for people to check the surrounding environment and then prepared to release the animals.

This river runs through the forest park and is a drinking place for many animals.

"Professor, we found some antelope remains by the river. Judging from the traces, they should be left by a group of lions hunting. But we are not sure which group of lions they belong to." Their location was relatively close to the group of lions where the lioness was previously, but lion groups would move within their territory, so they could not be sure whether those lions were still waiting for their companions there.

The environment abroad is different from that in China, and many methods cannot be used.

While African lion populations in grassland savannahs have been studied thoroughly, progress has been slower for West African lions living there.

Chen Ying did not interfere in the work of the professor team.

He was an outsider and was only responsible for assisting in treating the lioness. He had no idea how to release her or what work was to be done.

Just as the lion cage was being transported down, two cars that looked very expensive stopped not far away.

Chen Ying took a quick look and found that it was someone he didn't recognize.

But Professor Carris seemed to be very familiar with the other person, and walked over with a smile, hugged and greeted him.

"Professor, everything is ready. Shall we open the cage now?"

When the on-site assistant came over to ask for instructions, he also saluted and greeted the man in the car.

"Yes, prepare to open the cage. Let everyone get in the car and be safe."

Chen Ying also got into the car.

He got on the front car and sat in the passenger seat, so he could look the lioness in the cage in the eye.

The automatic lock opened, the lioness hesitated for a moment, and slowly walked out of the cage.

Everyone watched its actions nervously.

When I saw it walking into the forest, a smile appeared on its face.

However, the West African girl turned a corner halfway and jumped lightly in front of the car.

Many people cried out in surprise, and some even prepared to aim their tranquilizer guns.

Chen Ying saw something from the lioness's eyes, and without saying a word, opened the door and got out of the car.

Professor Carris wanted to stop her, but her husband stopped her first.

"Wait, Kerry, look at what he's going to do. Chen is not a man who will easily put himself in danger."

Under everyone's gaze, Chen Ying came up to the lioness and squatted on one knee.

He reached out and touched the lioness's head.

"You're already well and can go home. Aren't you happy?"

"Ho, what about you?"

"I want to go back to my home, too."

The West African girl was a little reluctant to part with this two-legged beast, so it buried its head in Chen Ying's arms.

But before they could act coquettishly for the last time, gunshots heard not far away scared everyone.

"What's going on? Who's shooting?"

One of the team members made a quick phone call, then he said to Professor Carris with a sullen face that the ranger team had encountered poachers.

“They were hunting antelope a kilometre from here, and there was also an elephant.”

Just as he was speaking, the lioness seemed to smell something, let out a deafening roar, and ran quickly towards the jungle.

Chen Ying didn't know much about the West African lion, but from its behavior, he suspected that the group of poachers was the same group that injured the lioness.

Just as Professor Carris was asking about the situation, the two cars that came later started moving. The man sitting in the passenger seat of the first car passed by Chen Ying and asked him if he wanted to get in the car and go with them to find the poachers.

Chen Ying didn't want to take part in this operation. He was a powerless man, and he would not even know why he died in this barbaric place.

But after all, the lioness was his sweetheart whom he had taken care of for a month. He couldn't sleep peacefully without making sure of her safety.

Chen Ying thought for a few seconds, then decisively opened the back door and got in.

The vehicle accelerated, and the people in the car didn't speak. Chen Ying was not in the mood to greet them. His eyes kept looking out the window, looking for the lioness.

The two people in front of him talked in a low voice for a few words, but the language they spoke was not familiar to him and he could not understand it at all.

"Hi, Dr. Chen, nice to meet you. We are here to chase a poaching team. There may be a fight later. You stay in the car and protect yourself, okay?"

"no problem."

The other party spoke very standard Chinese, and Chen Ying was stunned for a moment.

He glanced at the people in the car, and subconsciously glanced at their waists.

The guy sitting next to me showed his big white teeth, lifted up his coat and patted the guy around his waist.

Chen Ying pursed her lips and silently pressed against the car door.

Born in New China and raised under the red flag, apart from the old-fashioned hunting rifle and the gun he touched during military training in college, he had never been so close to this magical little baby.

My legs are a little weak, thank you for the invitation.

"Found it. It's just ahead."

As the vehicle accelerated, Chen Ying caught a glimpse of two West African lions hiding in the bushes, staring at them closely.

(Florence, a lioness wearing a radio collar, lies next to another lioness in the pride. Photo: John Wendle)

After reading the information, I found that there are actually two subgroups of lions and eight subspecies, among which the cave lion has become extinct.

I had always thought there were only Asian lions and African lions, but later I learned there were South African lions and West African lions, and West African lions are more closely related to Asian lions.

To be honest, the eight subspecies still surprised me a little.

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(End of this chapter)