Forest protection starts with picking up a lynx girl

Chapter 425 Midnight Terror
When the little leopard saw the male leopard, it seemed frightened and opened its mouth and meowed.

As expected of a cat, it has known meowing since childhood and has a natural clip-shaped sound.

Generally speaking, in the animal kingdom, males will choose to kill their cubs when they are not sure whether they are their own children.

But the big snow leopard must have been very sure that the child was its own, because after the little snow leopard made a cry, it did not pounce on it, but did not walk away either. Instead, it let out a low growl in a bit of anxiety.

It looked at the little snow leopard in Chen Ying's arms, then at the cave above its head, as if it didn't know what to do.

"Its mother is sick, and I need to take them down to get treatment. You understand? We need medicine to save them."

The male snow leopard took a step back, growled at him again, immediately jumped onto the rock, and cautiously approached the cave where the female snow leopard was.

After discovering that the female leopard was lying in the cave without any reaction, the male snow leopard called out more urgently, and took another tentative step inside, making a low gurgling growl from his throat.

The female snow leopard seemed to sense the male snow leopard's breath and moved slightly, but in the end she still couldn't open her eyes.

The male snow leopard exited the cave, lay down, and looked down at Chen Ying.

"I will save it, don't worry." Chen Ying gently scratched the little snow leopard's chin with one hand, and with the other hand, he turned around by holding on to the rock and looked up at the male snow leopard.

In his arms, the little snow leopard also raised its head and looked seriously at the male snow leopard who was suspected to be its biological father.

From beginning to end, the male snow leopard did not say a word, but just lay down firmly and looked at Chen Ying.

Half an hour later, Maocuo, his eldest son, and three police officers climbed up with the tools needed for rescue.

After seeing the male snow leopard, they were a little afraid to move.

"Come quickly, we can't delay any longer. The temperature is dropping, the mother leopard has fallen into a coma, and the cubs have been hungry for a long time."

Probably because they knew they were there, the humans didn't dare to come up. The male snow leopard stood up, turned around and walked up about ten meters, then lay down on a rock, holding the protruding part of the rock with its two front paws, resting its chin on the edge of the rock, and staring at their every move with its leopard eyes.

After all, Maocuo and his eldest son were local herdsmen and were accustomed to the terrain here. Under the command of Chen Ying, the two dragged the mother snow leopard out and fixed it to two pieces of wood with ropes. Two police comrades responded below, and the four of them carefully transferred the mother snow leopard to a slightly gentler slope.

The rest of the journey was much easier. They took turns carrying the snow leopard down the mountain. Chen Ying walked at the back holding the little leopard. Before going down the mountain, she greeted the male snow leopard and pointed to the location of Maocuo's house from a distance.

Maocuo's family has a small pickup truck, which is used to transport tents and other items when moving pastures. Now it comes in handy to help send the female snow leopard to the nearest animal husbandry and veterinary station.

The veterinarian there has been notified and has prepared relevant medicines and food.

The mother snow leopard fell ill due to a severe cold due to the excessive exertion of raising her cubs and the drastic weather changes in the past few days.

When a mother leopard is feeding her cubs, she has to go out to look for food almost every day, otherwise she will not be able to secrete enough milk to feed her cubs.

Fortunately, this female snow leopard only gave birth to one cub, and the surrounding blue sheep population was large, so hunting was not particularly difficult.

The veterinary station has basic testing tools. After testing, it was determined that the female snow leopard had no serious problems and only had mild diarrhea. After two days of injections and medication, she recovered most of her strength.

The cubs haven't been weaned yet, but they've already started learning to eat meat.

After Chen Ying mixed the milk powder for the baby, she cut fresh beef and mutton into thin strips and fed it to the baby.

Heijin also had a share. The little guy competed with the little snow leopard in eating. They greeted each other after eating, as if they were competing to see who ate more and whose food bowl was licked cleaner.

Heijin's fur is thick and soft, and when he stands next to the little snow leopard, the two seem to be almost the same size.

During the two days when the mother leopard was sick and receiving intravenous drips, the little snow leopard slept together with Heijin at night. The temporary nest of the two little ones was a large cardboard box with some old clothes and sheets spread inside, and a hot water bottle of suitable temperature placed underneath.

The cardboard box was placed in Chen Ying's room, in the corner where the head of the iron bed was against the wall.

Perhaps because of the warmth of its little friends, the little snow leopard did not show much stress.

It was not sent back to its mother until the mother snow leopard woke up.

I don’t know what the little snow leopard said to its mother, but after seeing Heijin, the female snow leopard did not attack it rashly. Instead, she sniffed it for a long time before licking its fur. Then she used her big paws to grab Heijin and bring him into her arms to feed him.

The whole body of Heijin dog was dazed, and it took him a while to struggle out of the mother snow leopard's arms. He ran to Chen Ying, with half of his body hiding behind his legs, and tilted his head to watch the mother snow leopard feeding him.

Chen Ying couldn't stop laughing. He put the meat and bones he had brought into the iron cage, signaling the female snow leopard to enjoy them.

The mother leopard was so hungry that she didn't even bother to feed her baby. She stood up, smelled the meat, and started to eat it.

He ate it so voraciously that Chen Ying even suspected that he swallowed it without chewing it thoroughly.

The little snow leopard had already drunk a bottle of milk and eaten half a pound of shredded pork in the morning, but now when it saw its mother eating meat, it ran over to get a bite of the food.

Chen Ying picked up a small bone with meat on it with tongs and threw it to the little snow leopard.

Its mother looked up and said nothing, but turned half a circle and blocked the food bowl with her body.

After staying at the veterinary station for four and a half days, the examination results came out and the female leopard recovered well, was able to eat and drink, and no longer had symptoms of diarrhea.

Because it is fed every day and its milk secretion is good, the little snow leopard is no longer fed with milk powder artificially, but it still eats shredded meat every day.

"Doctor Chen, are we going to release him back tomorrow? Or are we going to release him back where he is?"

"Well, it doesn't need to be sheltered or rescued in this situation. Just release it where it is. By the way, have you contacted Maocuo? His eldest son is a hard-working child. My suggestion is to let him serve as a temporary forest ranger. At least before their ranch is moved away, you can let him help patrol the nearby mountains and observe the mother snow leopard and the cub."

"The report has been submitted, but they have to move next month. I estimate that if it is possible, it will take until next year to implement it."

As winter approaches, the temperature in the alpine pastures drops rapidly. The cattle and sheep cannot stay here for long and must return to the winter pastures.

Their winter pasture is more than 70 kilometers away from the summer pasture in the mountains. They spend almost half of the year on the summer pasture. After late autumn, they have to return to the winter pasture.

Chen Ying didn't know much about the lives of the herdsmen here, so it was inconvenient for him to give any advice. Since the other party had already made arrangements, he didn't ask any further questions.

After staying for one more day and making sure that the female snow leopard had no problems with eating, drinking and excreting, Chen Ying and the staff from the veterinary station, together with the police officers who had previously rescued the female snow leopard, went to Maocuo's ranch.

When the car reached the foot of the mountain, the iron cages containing the mother snow leopard and the cub were lowered out of the car. After taking protective measures, the staff opened the cage door.

The female snow leopard jumped out, ran a few meters and turned back and called out. The little leopard who was still a little scared in the cage then ran out with her.

The mother and son ran one after the other and soon reached the hillside.

The female leopard turned her head and looked at Chen Ying and the black gold at his feet.

"Ah, aah, aah!" The female snow leopard called out to Heijin a few times, as if wondering why it didn't follow her.

Heijin took two small steps and turned around twice on the spot. After barking a few times, the mother snow leopard gave up the idea of ​​summoning Heijin to join them. After looking at Chen Ying deeply, she took her child up the mountain quickly.

"Look at the mountain opposite." The policeman next to him suddenly whispered and pointed to the mountain diagonally opposite.

Chen Ying picked up the phone, focused, and zoomed in, and saw the agile male snow leopard hunting blue sheep.

It looked like it had succeeded, as it put one paw on the sheep's head, with blood on its mouth, and looked majestically at the mother snow leopard and her cub who had returned from recovery.

The mother snow leopard and her cub soon appeared at the edge of the first peak.

It probably also discovered the male snow leopard, so it stopped, used its tail to shield its child, and looked up at the male snow leopard for a long time.

"It seems that the female leopard did not return to the previous cave. It went to the other side."

Maocuo was there too. He frowned as he looked at the direction the female snow leopard was walking. That direction was closer to his family's pasture, and he always felt that the female snow leopard seemed to be planning something bad.

Maocuo's eldest son chuckled twice, "Dad, is it interested in our calf?"

Mao Cuo raised his hand to pat his son on the head, but when he saw the smiling faces of several policemen nearby, he put his hand down awkwardly and then raised his foot and lightly kicked his son on the butt.

"Go herd the cattle, what are you talking about here?"

The leading police officer came over and said something to Mao Cuo, who kept nodding and answered a few words in a low voice.

Chen Ying didn't understand and didn't ask any further questions. She just took a video of the surrounding scenery with her mobile phone and sent it to Qingye and the rescue center's group.

"The conditions here are very good. So far, we have only found one male snow leopard, who is in good health and has strong hunting ability. A female leopard is with a cub, who is in good condition and needs to continue to be tracked and monitored."

He didn't know whether Maocuo's eldest son could be a temporary forest ranger, but he had seen the photos taken by the child and thought he was very talented, so he sent some of his works to Dao Meihua and Ji Xin.

The former can help him find opportunities in M ​​Alliance or other charitable organizations, and the latter can provide children with systematic technical guidance.

Ji Xin traveled all over the country this year. The last time he met Chen Ying, he disappeared the next day. If he hadn't occasionally appeared in the small group, Chen Ying wouldn't have known whether he was still alive.

Recently, I heard from Duanmu and Xiao Liu that he was planning to shoot a documentary in Heyuan. Chen Ying didn't ask about the details. When his help is needed, someone will tell him.

When he sent the photos to Ji Xin, he didn't expect the other party to respond immediately. However, just when they released the snow leopard and were about to return, Ji Xin called him.

"You want to come over? Now?"

After Chen Ying discovered that Ji Xin was cheerful, she realized that he also had a tendency to act rashly. Look, when she called him, he was already on his way here.

Of course, Ji Xin also said that there was no need for Chen Ying to stay and wait for him. He only asked Chen Ying to remind Mao Cuo's family that he would come to bother them.

This time he came here in his own car, and he had no plans to go around to the management station on his way back. He would go directly down from the ranch and onto the national highway to return to the Heyuan Emergency Station.

After hearing Chen Ying say that she wanted to stay and wait for a photographer friend, the veterinarian and the policeman who came with her split into two groups. The veterinary station's small truck took the transfer cage and the veterinarian and left first, while the policeman stayed to accompany Chen Ying and the others.

While waiting, several people talked about the previous death of musk deer.

The matter was eventually traced back to a nearby musk deer farm. The specific circumstances have not yet been determined, and the police cannot reveal the details to irrelevant personnel, but during the conversation they vaguely mentioned that it might be a personal reason.

Almost two hours later, Ji Xin arrived at the ranch.

"Wow, kid, you changed the car."

Looking at Ji Xin getting off the SUV, Chen Ying went over to greet him and walked around the vehicle.

"I often drive to the reserve, so my family bought me this car and modified it a bit. It's quite comfortable." The two chatted for a while, and Chen Ying took him to say hello to several policemen. After checking his identity information, a group of people went to Mao Cuo's tent.

The hostess Donglin had already prepared tea. When she saw them come in, she quickly added butter and served it to the guests.

During the chat, Chen Ying already knew the name of Maocuo's eldest son. It was a long Tibetan name that was a bit difficult to pronounce, so everyone in the family called him Nici.

Nici did not go out, but sorted out the photos he took at home.

Ji Xin took two sips of tea and without beating around the bush, he directly asked Nici to show him the photos he had taken before.

The two of them were chatting on the side. After Chen Ying and the others sat for a while, they planned to leave.

After Ji Xin's car was modified, it had some of the performance of an RV, making it very convenient to sleep in the car at night.

After making sure there was no obstacle in communication between Ji Xin and Ni Ci, Chen Ying left with the police officers.

He didn't have time to get to the Heyuan Emergency Station that night. After all, it was late autumn and the nights were very cold. The weather might still change. For safety reasons, Chen Ying stayed in a small town he passed by.

The town is very small. The houses built along the road are of two floors at the highest, and most of them are one-story bungalows. Judging from the decorations on the courtyard gates, this is a typical Tibetan town.

I chatted with the boss for a while during the meal and found out that they were herdsmen who were relocated here from another place.

After moving out of the previous ranch, all the family’s cattle, sheep and livestock were handed over to the cooperative for centralized raising, and all they had to do was wait for their share of the profits every year.

Young herders prefer this kind of life, while the elderly are still accustomed to a pastoral life of moving with the grass.

"In fact, scientific centralized breeding is very convenient and profitable. The government built houses for us, so we don't have to move around all year round, and the children can study with peace of mind. I think it's great. But many people are still unwilling to do so, as they feel uneasy if they can't see their own cattle, sheep, and horses."

The boss's mother and two uncles refused to move down and still live a nomadic life.

It’s hard to tell who is right or wrong in this matter. Anyway, everyone has to live their own life as long as they feel good about it.

The boss's house is one of the few two-story houses in the town. When it was built, he paid part of the money himself. Later, it was turned into a small hotel and his investment was earned back long ago.

His next plan is to renovate his house and make it into a homestay style that is popular on the Internet, providing accommodation and dining services specifically for passing tourists.

Not only the small hotel, but also the only self-service supermarket in the town was opened by him. He used his uncle's house and paid rent and a portion of dividends every year.

His uncle's two children are working in other places, and his wife and children are also away. It is highly likely that they will never return to their hometown to live in the future.

In the middle of the night, Chen Ying was startled when she suddenly heard an alarm. Heijin, who was sleeping in a cardboard box beside the bed, was also instantly awakened and made a low howling sound.

"Hei Jin, stop making trouble. Let me see what's going on."

I walked to the window and opened it a crack, and a cold wind whistled in.

I leaned out and saw several people gathered at the gate of the next yard, and one of them was fiddling with something with a long bamboo pole.

After closing the window and putting on clothes, Chen Ying locked Hei Jin in the room and went downstairs to inquire about the situation.

The proprietress was standing outside the bar, looking through the glass window at the next door, her face full of worry.

"What happened?"

"Customer, don't go out. It's dangerous outside." The proprietress stopped him. "A brown bear ran into the sheepfold of Gesan's family in the back and killed two sheep. It was discovered while eating the sheep. Gesan wanted to chase it away, but it climbed over the wall and ran to our house. It went into the warehouse from behind the supermarket. My husband is working with the neighbors to find a way to get it out."

"Is it possible? Brown bears are very ferocious. Have you called the police?"

"We've reported it. Look, those two police officers over there are on duty, but there's nothing they can do. We've already notified the veterinarian to come over. Hopefully they can anesthetize the animal and take it away."

The proprietress had a worried look on her face, muttering to herself that she didn't know how much of the goods in the warehouse had been spoiled and whether the loss was huge.

She was also worried about the safety of her husband and other neighbors who came to help, and she was about to cry.

Chen Ying was not in a hurry to go up. There were already enough people there. It would be fine as long as the veterinarian could knock down the brown bear.

In winter, this situation occurs more frequently, and he can't be the one to do it every time.

After looking out the window for a while, I heard faint voices. It seemed that the bear was addicted to eating sausages in the supermarket.

Chen Ying thought of the two brown bears in the ranch village last year. She didn't know what happened to them. She hoped that they would not go to the human gathering place to rob again this year.

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard a cry from the opposite side, and then the crowd dispersed instantly. Several herdsmen jumped onto the wall nimbly and ran to the roof.

A few others sneaked into other people's yards and propped up the gates.

Half a minute later, a medium to large brown bear ran out of the supermarket door, stood up, howled several times, and rushed towards the wall where people were standing.

Several people standing on the wall quickly jumped onto the roof and ran to the other side.

The brown bear was quite smart. It knew how to climb up by stepping on the wooden boxes and beer boxes stacked against the wall, and it actually climbed up.

This scared the onlookers so much that several families asked people to close the doors, windows and lights, for fear that the brown bear would break into their homes without following the moral code.

At the critical moment, the veterinarian finally arrived and gave the brown bear an injection. But the injection was blown away by the wind before it reached the brown bear.

The second shot did hit the target, but it seemed like the dosage was not enough. The brown bear was not afraid at all. Instead, it turned around and tried to bite the veterinarian.

Chen Ying didn't dare to stand by and watch any longer, so he rushed out, pulled the veterinarian away, and took the blowpipe from his hand.

This veterinarian still needs to improve his accuracy.

Pushing the veterinarian into the gate of the hotel, Chen Ying looked calmly at the brown bear.

This brown bear did not seem to have a strong murderous intent. In fact, after sensing Chen Ying's breath, its original anger gradually subsided, and it even slowed down its speed. Finally, it rubbed against the wall and sat down.

Chen Ying wasn't sure whether the anesthetic injection had taken effect or the bear really didn't intend to hurt anyone.

After waiting for a while, he approached tentatively. The bear was panting, but did not make any threatening moves towards Chen Ying.

Chen Ying asked the proprietress to turn on the headlights outside. Under the bright light, she recognized that the bear was a female. Although the bear was sitting, its eyes were clear, without the dullness from being anesthetized.

"Hey, why are you here?"

Chen Ying stopped when he was more than two meters away from it, with the blowpipe ready. In case the bear launched a violent charge, he would be able to dodge and counterattack with anesthesia in the first place.

"I'm hungry. I want to eat. I want to have cubs." The voice came dull and tired. The brown bear raised his paw and scratched his chin. "I want to eat."

Is it a pregnant bear? Calculating the time, the peak breeding season for Tibetan brown bears should be from December to January. Now it is about four months away from being pregnant with cubs. An experienced bear will take the time to fill her stomach and store enough fat.

This stored fat is the most important source of food for the cubs during the month of birth.

Chen Ying told it not to move and got into the car to take down the mobile ultrasound machine that had been stored in the car.

The veterinarian saw his actions in the yard, hesitated for a moment, and then offered to help.

The brown bear did not reject Chen Ying's approach, but it made threatening grunts when the veterinarian approached.

Chen Ying touched its belly and patted it gently.

"Don't make a fuss, he's here to help you."

The brown bear groaned for a while, then turned his head and slid down a little to make himself more comfortable.

"She is pregnant indeed." Chen Ying pointed at the image on the screen and asked the veterinarian to look at it. However, the veterinarian was confused and did not understand it at all.

Chen Ying was stunned for a moment, and then immediately told the veterinarian the test results.

Most of the veterinarians in these towns are self-employed, and they are lucky enough to be able to treat livestock and give them vaccines.

"I'm going to collect its blood and other biological samples. Please be careful."

Chen Ying put away the ultrasound machine and prepared to get the test tube.

Seeing Chen Ying was about to leave, the brown bear moved and the veterinarian jumped back in fright.

"Don't be afraid, it just wants to find something to eat." Chen Ying turned around and asked the proprietress if there was any pumpkin. The black bears in Jiamugou like to eat old pumpkins. I wonder if the Tibetan brown bears are interested in this.

As for meat, it is not convenient to provide it with it now, so it is better to let it hunt in the wild on its own.

Pika is so delicious, you can eat more of it.

The proprietress handed half an old pumpkin out from the window, and Chen Ying broke off a piece for it to taste.

The brown bear had never eaten this before, so he tried taking a bite and found that it tasted pretty good.

Crunch, crunch! In just a few minutes, it had eaten half of the old pumpkin.

Brown bears are omnivorous animals. They usually eat more meat, occasionally some plant fruits or seeds, and also some fruits.

Old pumpkins can not only supplement plant nutrients but also provide sugar, which somehow suits the appetite of expectant brown bears.

Seeing it patting its belly and asking for pumpkin, Chen Ying felt that he might have made a mistake.

In Jiamugou, old pumpkins are really not rare. There are so many of them in the fields, you can just dig them yourself.

However, in the plateau, especially in the grassland pastoral areas, old pumpkins are either shipped from other places or grown in local agricultural greenhouses. The cost is much higher, and it is more painful to provide them to brown bears than to feed them meat.

Just then, another guest on the second floor who had been silent suddenly spoke up.

(The last photo is of a brown bear fetus)

(End of this chapter)