Chapter 673: Chapter 545: All Show and No Go, and the Orange Wild One (2nd Update, Please Vote)

The three siblings are already very familiar with their surroundings, but today’s destination is a bit farther away, it’s also an exercise for their mobility and familiarity with nature.

After being urged by Leopard Sister, Bai Bingyang reluctantly leads the three kids, following behind her outside the rescue station, glancing back as if waiting for Chen Ying to rescue him.

“Brother Ying, these three little guys are weaned. How about finding them a more wild nanny? If Bai Bingyang continues with them, I’m afraid they’ll end up spending their lives in the Wildlife Park.”

Bai Bingyang himself was raised by a human nanny. Looking at his survival skills, this guy couldn’t survive more than three days in the wild.

The risk for the three cubs following him is too high, but there are no mother tigers around to act as foster mothers.

Leopard Sister can barely take care of them, but the problem is, Leopard Sister is a leopard, and her hunting methods in the wild are unsuitable for tigers. It would be problematic if the three tiger cubs end up exhibiting neither this nor that behavior.

This problem is quite challenging. There weren’t many mother tigers discovered here to begin with. The mother tiger from Old Northern Gully moved northwest, reportedly because a handsome big male tiger appeared there, and she went after the young male tiger.

A fierce tiger also appeared in Old Bear Gully, but the problem is it’s a male tiger. According to investigations, this male tiger likely migrated from the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon area. If a female tiger suitable for mating can’t be found here, the male tiger would choose to return to its original habitat.

They have seen that tiger only three times in Jiamu Gully over the years, the most recent was two years ago.

On the other hand, the number of tigers in Old Northern Gully is slightly higher, but mainly they are Huanan tigers. There’s no reproductive isolation between them and Bengal tigers, but there are significant differences in size and hunting behavior.

Additionally, the big tiger that appears only once every few years likely comes from a tiger population expanding from the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, but the span between the two regions is over a thousand kilometers, and there’s a snow mountain dividing them. Whether it’s a viable breeding population is unknown. However, from a geographical and theoretical perspective, it’s possible for Bengal tigers to spread from the Grand Canyon to here.

“In that case, why don’t we backtrack and explore along this line to see if we can find traces of wild Bengal tigers?”

Yin Li, after understanding this information, made a suggestion.

The task of exploration can be handed to a professional scientific expedition team, and it’s not necessary to walk the entire route. We can collaborate with students and teachers from various provinces and schools, explore regionally, and then compile the findings.

Moreover, Southeast Tibet has also put emphasis on ecological restoration in recent years, planting native tree species (like Pinus, Tibetan Sequoia) in the Bomi-Motuo section, with plans to restore 500 square kilometers of habitat by 2025.

Coupled with the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park, which aims to connect previously separated major habitats and build a comprehensive ecological corridor, although the primary purpose is to restore the panda population, the establishment of the ecological corridor also greatly aids gene exchange for other animals.

Besides, with the appearance of the super snow leopard, wouldn’t it be possible to have a Bengal tiger that’s skilled at long-distance travel?

Yin Li’s proposal is quite balanced, and his identity is also suitable for submitting this suggestion.

The group at the rescue station discussed it and felt that it could be done, and they could take the lead on this matter.

There are mountain patrol team members within the nature reserve, and now technology has been widely adopted for forest patrols. The use of drones and satellite remote sensing to identify possible biological corridors has become mature, much more advanced than measuring the land with two legs a decade ago.

The plan still needs to be discussed and refined. You can’t just write down whatever comes to mind, or when the leaders inquire, discover flaws everywhere.

Chen Ying has not yet obtained his PhD, but he estimates he should get it by summer.

The success of the reintroduction and breeding of the Iberian lynx should be undeniable, and his paper has already passed the journal’s review, with the earliest publication expected in March.

All conditions required for a PhD graduation are met, the only unfinished part is the teaching agreement with the school.

However, it is said that the course can be replaced by other methods, such as assisting in training students to participate in an international project.

When Chen Ying gets his diploma and returns home, he will definitely want to achieve something to show others. He currently has three topics, but none are particularly “international,” so he’s planning to wait a bit longer, just in case an opportunity arises unexpectedly.

As for now, he’ll just play with Hajimi, and then relax as the New Year approaches.

This year, he plans to spend the New Year at Jiamu Gully, which counts as working during the holiday, then after the fifth or sixth day, when others return to work, he’ll go to Dao Meihua’s place and stay there until the Lantern Festival.

Dao Meihua, aside from her research work, also needs to complete tasks set by her family, making sleep a luxury come the year’s end.

She has agreed with Chen Ying to celebrate New Year’s Eve at home, and on New Year’s Day, she will come to Jiamu Gully to spend it with him.

As for Professor Bai, for the past few years, his entire family has been spending the New Year in Xiaozhai Village, where the atmosphere is more festive than in the city, and their self-built small house is cozy, so they have no interest in going back to the city for socializing.

Chatting idly with Little Sen, the two of them sitting on the platform of the small building, watching the furry ones playing and frolicking, Little Sen suddenly asked, “Jiaojiao’s two kids were recently found in the North-South Ecological Corridor.”

Chen Ying was slightly stunned before reacting, “You mean Yin Xin and Na Fu? How did they end up there? They’re only three years old, not yet at the life harmony stage, right?”

“Since the restoration of the North-South Ecological Corridor was confirmed, Daddy Qin and the Panda Man team received instructions to guide Jiaojiao and Great Bai to migrate south with their two cubs. When they reached the edge of this mountain range, Jiaojiao and Great Bai drove their two kids away, and then they themselves turned back north, heading towards Flower Lake.”

After the group of newcomers and Na Fu were left to spend their first winter away from their parents, this spring, Brother Ying Xin took the initiative to migrate south while Sister Na Fu stayed behind to guard the mountain waiting for Big Bear.

Female giant pandas reach sexual maturity at five years old, so Na Fu has at least two more years of single life before she can have babies.

Thinking of Ying Xin and Na Fu, and then looking at the little leopards who are learning from their elders and can already climb trees to hide, Bai Bingyang’s three cubs are really weak.

Speak of the tiger, and the tiger appears.

The Big Tiger Cub is not great at hunting on its own but is pretty good at snatching from others.

The little leopards from Beibei’s house next door caught a wild rabbit together, and before they got a chance to show off, the Big Tiger Cub, relying on its strong and stout body, snatched the food from their mouths.

Moreover, this fellow doesn’t know how to skin it on its own, so it came running to Chen Ying, wanting the two-legged beast to help peel off the annoying rabbit skin so it could eat the meat.

Putting the rabbit on the grass under the platform, this super orange-striped one was as excited as a dog, pawing at the rabbit, urging Chen Ying to hurry up and not delay its eating.

The little leopards who had their food stolen were furious. They couldn’t match the super orange-striped one alone, so they decided to team up and teach this shameless big cat a profound lesson.

In fact, the two tiger sisters noticed the leopards’ plan, but they didn’t say anything or warn their silly brother.

Anyway, their brother is thick-skinned and tough; as long as he doesn’t get killed, they don’t mind him getting beaten. It’s best to exhaust him, so he doesn’t constantly disturb them like he’s on steroids.

Chen Ying didn’t move, but Little Sen couldn’t stand the Big Tiger Cub’s pleading, so he skinned the rabbit for it and cut it up before tossing it back.

This fellow fiercely guards its food; whenever it’s eating, it won’t let anyone near. And when it gets fired up, it even dares to hit its mom.

Of course, this comes with the price of being weaned early.

Once it slowed down its eating speed a bit, the little leopards who were waiting nearby started to coordinate their attack, quietly surrounding the Big Tiger Cub.

When it comes to the Big Tiger Cub, it still has a bit of a wild side, provided there’s food in front of it. Without food, the outcome is entirely different.

At this moment, there’s half a rabbit leg left in front of the Big Tiger Cub, and out of the corner of its eye, it sees a leopard cub pouncing towards it.

What the heck, trying to snatch my food? The Big Tiger Cub’s predator radar suddenly blares a warning; it presses a paw down on the rabbit leg and opens its bloody mouth to roar in the direction of the approaching little leopard.

But the little leopard wasn’t afraid of it at all, speeding up and leaping into the air, grabbing its head in a back slam, but failed to knock it down!

One failed attack, another swiftly follows; this time, two little female leopards team up, one aiming for a throat lock, the other biting at its rear, their moves sharp and precise.

While the two were attacking, another leopard cub also sprang into action, lunging straight at the Big Tiger Cub’s back.

Little Sen was startled and wanted to stop them, but Chen Ying held him back.

“Don’t be afraid, even if it gets a little hurt it’s fine, this is a great opportunity.”

The little leopards clearly inherited the style of their parents and Leopard Brother and Sister; they act decisively when pouncing and biting, attacking instantly when they see a chance.

In contrast, the Big Tiger Cub’s response was problematic; it was unwilling to let go of the rabbit leg under its paw, relying solely on its physical strength to resist, but even a fierce tiger finds it hard to take on a group of leopards. After merely a couple of exchanges, the Big Tiger Cub was knocked to the ground by the leopard cubs and successfully had its throat locked.

This guy even then didn’t feel any sense of crisis, posing with airplane ears, pitifully whimpering in surrender.

Watching, Chen Ying’s forehead veins throbbed. If this fool was released, like its mom, it wouldn’t survive three nights!

In the past, with the mother tiger helping to raise it, it never seemed that captive-bred tigers would have such low combat effectiveness. After all, there are many reports that tigers and lions in wildlife parks are ferocious, biting people if not careful.

But this guy doesn’t seem capable of biting people at all!

At this moment, the two young female tigers watching suddenly rushed over, using their size advantage to knock away the two young male leopards, then flipped the surrounding pair of little leopards with a body slam.

Their surprise attack made the five leopard cubs quickly scatter, each finding advantageous positions and collectively baring rice-grain-sized sharp teeth at the two young female tigers.

The two young female tigers didn’t pursue, standing on either side of their brother, slightly opening their mouths to show their similarly small tiger teeth, their throats emitting a rumbling sound.

Seeing this, a spark flashed in Chen Ying’s mind, and an idea emerged.