Chapter 615: Chapter 516: That Tigress Is So Fierce—She’s Been Fierce Since She Was Little! (Part 2)

Professor Bai nodded, stood up, patted his clothing, and returned to his room to rest.

The students who came with him were there to learn feeding and operations, and at the same time, they could take the opportunity to get closer to the giant pandas, hoping they might be allowed to touch them one day.

For safety reasons, their activity range was limited to the platform on the first floor, with forest pathways connecting to two other small buildings, minimizing disturbance to the animals roaming the emergency station.

Being allowed into the forest emergency station indicated these students had good character. Knowing Jiaojiao had a big appetite, they helped Little Sen make fresh steamed corn buns. The other two boys carried baskets up the mountain to dig for bamboo shoots and cut bamboo, bringing them back to feed Jiaojiao.

When Chen Ying returned, after learning the situation from Little Sen, she went to check on Jiaojiao.

Jiaojiao herself wasn’t sure if she was pregnant, but she just felt like eating, feeling her body needed it.

Based on this, Chen Ying created a chart for Jiaojiao, asking Little Sen and another student to record Jiaojiao’s food intake and sleep patterns daily.

This year, Jiaojiao was over a decade old and nearing the end of her prime reproductive years. Since she wanted to have a child with Great Bai, Chen Ying was determined to fulfill her wish.

Our Great Bai should have a biological child of his own too.

Because of the little cub last year, Great Bai didn’t allow Jiaojiao to have a baby, and for some unknown reason, neither panda had a cub the following year. It was now the fourth year, and it was completely normal that Jiaojiao showed signs of wanting to reproduce.

Pandas have high environmental and temperature requirements for reproduction, and the abundance of food is also a factor that hinders their reproduction.

It’s common to hear that captive pandas fail to mate for years, likely due to environmental factors. In recent years, technological advances have significantly improved the living environment and food for captive pandas, resulting in a noticeable increase in newborn panda cubs each year.

The reason Jiaojiao and Great Bai returned to Jiamu Gully, leaving their territory, was probably because Jiaojiao wanted to find a safe place to give birth.

Just as well, Daddy Qin, who previously cared for a panda that got relocated, heard Jiaojiao and Great Bai returned to Jiamu Gully and decided to visit them. Upon learning Jiaojiao might give birth, he pondered deeply and submitted a report to the center, proposing to temporarily transfer to the Protection Station to fully focus on caring for Jiaojiao until she gave birth.

It wasn’t just Chen Ying and Professor Bai who felt something was up; Daddy Qin, knowledgeable about panda behavior, also sharply noticed this through exchanges with Chen Ying.

“It must have some problem, or its instincts drove it to choose the most secure way and place. You and the professor should focus on the snow leopard cub’s surgery, and since I’m not in charge of pandas right now, let me assist Little Xia in caring for Jiaojiao.”

Chen Ying considered it and agreed to Daddy Qin’s proposal, but Daddy Qin needed to handle the procedures at the center personally.

After all, Jiaojiao had been a wild panda for many years, and humans technically shouldn’t intervene in her behavior unless Jiaojiao herself sought help from humans voluntarily.

Daddy Qin and Little Sen adopted a principle in caring for Jiaojiao, which was to avoid excessive intervention. They could assist in gathering food and provide nutritional supplements and help set up a birthing den, but they shouldn’t frequently appear in Jiaojiao’s daily life.

Luckily, Jiaojiao was very vigilant, and with too many two-legged beasts coming and going at the emergency station, she consciously chose to leave with Great Bai after frenzied eating for three days and settled in the tree hollow where Fufu used to give birth.

The Panda Man immediately started monitoring work, using the opportunity when the couple went out to forage to set up two cameras capable of transmitting data wirelessly inside and outside the tree hollow.

Moreover, since Jiaojiao and Great Bai were inseparable, and the tree hollow as a birthing den couldn’t accommodate Great Bai, the two-legged beasts showcased their craftsmanship. They used discarded wood and stones to create a temporary cave with the staff at the Protection Station.

The cave was not large, just partially underground, with a roof made of wood, stones, and vines mixed. The entrance was big enough for Great Bai to come and go, and the area inside could let Great Bai roll twice before reaching the other side.

When Great Bai discovered the cave, the entire bear was stunned, circling the artificial cave for two days before entering. It howled excitedly for a long time after that, and the cave was officially claimed.

The tree hollow Jiaojiao had previously chosen also had traces of human modification. It was widened and reinforced by Fufu’s daddy along with others using the naturally formed tree hollow back in the days.

Considering Fufu’s hefty body, plus accommodating Fufu’s cub, it was evident that the tree hollow was not small.

Moreover, below the tree hollow was an underground cave, which was quite suitable for hiding a cub, especially before it reached the age of half a year. Such a cave could prevent it from recklessly exploring the outside world.

The cave prepared for Great Bai was suitable for an adult beast, but it seemed a bit too rudimentary to raise cubs.

But Jiaojiao liked it, so Great Bai just had to obediently give up the new house.

Upon discovering this through monitoring, Daddy Qin again led a team to hurriedly construct a birthing nest, sneaking it into that cave. With this, no matter where Jiaojiao chose to give birth, there would be no issues. Of course, they also set up monitors in the new house to easily observe Jiaojiao’s situation.

As for setting up a room for the giant pandas, Chen Ying didn’t intervene, since she was observing the little cub and Little Brain Tiger Ximei’s daily activities recently.

“Teacher, have you noticed that when the little cub plays with Ximei, they both seem much better? And this little Hu Niu is surprisingly good at taking care of the little cub.”

Just yesterday at noon, two Little Brain Tigers came over to play. The little cub had just finished its milk, exhausted, lying on the wood platform to rest, with an additional meal placed beside it.

When the two Little Brain Tigers arrived, the little male tiger’s eyes lit up upon seeing the extra meal and rushed to snatch it, while the little cub tried to stop it.

It wasn’t about being stingy; the extra meal was specifically formulated for its bodily needs, so it wasn’t very tasty.

But the little male tiger didn’t know that, thinking the little cub was just guarding its food. In an instant, it roared at the little cub with the roar of a baby tiger!

The little cub had never been yelled at this way before and was stunned right there, nearly rolling off the wooden frame while dodging a headbutt from the little male tiger.

The adult animals watching the scene unfold didn’t intervene, as such harassment among young cubs was quite normal.

Moreover, the wooden frame wasn’t high; even if the little cub fell, it would just hurt a bit, not even breaking the skin.

Only Er Niu was a bit worried about whether the little cub’s emotional agitation would trigger an attack, but before she could decide whether to help her son, Ximei intervened.

Ximei was a size smaller than her brother Fatty, being a little tigress. But her aura and bravery were by no means inferior to her brother’s. She charged over, leaping from another wooden platform straight onto the wooden frame, headbutting her brother off, and then stood guard by the little cub, fiercely barking at her foolish brother a few more times.

Her rough meaning was calling him out for bullying others because of his size, saying he wasn’t a good tiger.

The little male tiger Fatty, knocked off the wooden frame, was nearly barking like a dog in frustration, bouncing on the ground, even trying to imitate his sister’s way to bump her off as well.

Unfortunately, Ximei reacted quickly, guiding the little cub away unscathed.

Fatty was beside himself with anger, chasing his sister for a duel, with the two little tiger cubs engaging in another episode of their daily sibling squabble on the wooden frame.

(Ximei on the left, Fatty on the right. Brother Fatty is clearly a size bigger than Ximei.)

This time, the little cub didn’t remain just an observer but gathered the courage to charge at Fatty.

Fatty, destined to fail at one against two, roared angrily and stormed out of the emergency station in tears.

The little cub didn’t expect the little male tiger to be all bark and no bite, looking bewildered at Ximei, who puffed out her chest and watched her brother’s embarrassed retreat with a smug expression, slightly tucking its neck.

“Eat quickly. From now on, finish your food swiftly. Otherwise, when you’re alone in the wild, bad things will snatch your food. If it gets snatched, you’ll go hungry, and hunger will leave you powerless, and then you won’t find food, and eventually, you’ll starve to death!”

Ximei turned her head and earnestly educated the little cub. After saying that, she even made a wide-eyed, tongue-out face, indicating how tragic death would be!

The little cub was frightened, quickly grabbed the extra meal, and gnawed a few bites, belatedly noticing Ximei staring at its mouth. So, the little cub didn’t know whether to swallow the food or spit it out to show Ximei after chewing so long.

Fortunately, Aunt Leopard, who was watching from the side, carried a piece of jerky over and handed the fragrant meat to Ximei, thanking her for protecting her “frail” little cub.

Hmm, felt a little bit embarrassing.