Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 316 - A Den of Mad Leopards

Chapter 316 -316 A Den of Mad Leopards

Snow leopards and flower leopards coexisting in the same region is not unheard of.

Above the snow line on the high mountains of Jiamu Gully is the domain of the snow leopard, while below the snow line, the flower leopard roams.

However, such concentration and number as seen in the Three Rivers Canyon are virtually nonexistent elsewhere in the country.

In recent years, Qing Province has indeed earned its reputation as the “Home of the Snow Leopard.”

The number of snow leopards here should be the highest in the nation.

The surrounding reserves of Jiamu Gully focus primarily on the giant panda, and although they protect other fierce beasts, their promotional efforts are less striking.

Chen Ying could not possibly take Er Niu to Sanjiang Origin.

His work was centered along the River Source. Traveling there for tourism was one thing, but taking Er Niu… did he think he had too strong a backing?

However, since that lynx could come over, why shouldn’t Er Niu be allowed to cross?

It was just a highway, a piece of cake!

Before Chen Ying could secretly plot out his road-crossing cat-travel plans on paper, a call came from the neighboring reserve.

It was a plea for help concerning several flower leopards that had turned ferocious.

“Mr. Chen, we really are out of options here. Normally, we shouldn’t interfere with the freedom of the animals. But these flower leopards are like they’ve gone mad—they’re not only fighting each other but also fiercely attacking other animals.”

To date, they had received no fewer than ten calls for help, ranging from lynxes and flower leopards to snow leopards, including three white-lipped deer with broken legs.

Not to mention the rabbits and weasels that met their ends without being eaten.

It was essentially a case of “malicious destruction of the environmental ecosystem.”

“We’ve got five leopards fighting, and we’ve already managed to sedate two with tranquilizer darts, but three have escaped. The problem is, these three flower leopards seem to bear a grudge against humans. Last night, they broke into the livestock barn of a herder’s home, killing thirty-seven sheep of varying sizes. By the time we arrived, there was no sign of the leopards.”

The helplessness in the caller’s voice was palpable even through the phone.

“I’ll come right over, send me the coordinates, and we’ll meet where the flower leopards have been sighted.”

This time, he really had to bring Er Niu and Yellow Fur along.

Not to let them fight, but to help block the path of the three crazed flower leopards to prevent them from running amok.

He had never seen madness of this kind before; even during mating periods when fights occur, it should not affect other animals.

Could it be that the flower leopards also had rabies? ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Dogs are the primary vector for rabies, accounting for over 95% of cases, followed by cats.

Wild carnivores also present a risk of transmission. For instance, weasels, red foxes, raccoon dogs, wolves, etc.

Bats can also spread rabies, but this is quite rare domestically.

Cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and other livestock along with rabbits, rats, and other rodents have a low risk of bite transmission.

Birds, fish, insects, lizards, turtles, and snakes neither contract nor transmit the virus.

So, there’s a real possibility that the leopards were carrying the rabies virus.

That said, Chen Ying instinctively felt that rabies was not the cause of the leopards’ behavior.

“Are all five leopards male or are there females among them?”

“I don’t know, but the two we’ve caught so far are male.”

The mating season for flower leopards is not fixed, but geographically, they generally mate in the spring.

And now they were approaching the coldest season on the plateau, so a fight for mating purposes seemed unlikely.

Chen Ying’s mind was a mess.

If only Leopard Sister had a phone, he would definitely consult her about what might be causing these flower leopards to wreak havoc like mad.

Jinya and Little Jin were left behind at the center to care for the snow leopard cub.

This special family of three occupied the largest semi-open animal shed at the center.

The little snow leopard’s skills were not sufficient for it to escape, but Little Jin could easily come and go.

The heavy responsibility of hunting was left to this young adoptive father.

Of course, Xiao Song wouldn’t just stand by as an observer; as the two-legged beast nanny for the snow leopard cub, she was also extremely competent.

Upon entering the Grand Canyon area, Chen Ying saw two vehicles parked by the roadside.

“Mr. Chen, I’m Old Yang, the one who contacted you. These are the patrol officers from our protection station and the veterinarian from the rescue center.”

Chen Ying had met this veterinarian before; he was one of the assistant veterinarians in the Qing Ye medical area, and surprisingly, he was already capable of handling things on his own.

After a brief exchange of greetings and a quick update on the situation, one of the patrol officers led them into the shrubbery beside the canyon.

Er Niu and Yellow Fur also got out of the car.

On the way, Chen Ying had already warned them to be careful. The goal was to locate the leopards, not to rashly engage them.

He was very confident in Yellow Fur, but with Er Niu, he always had unexpectedly bold actions, making him unsure whether bringing it was the right decision.

The staff from the Sanjiang Reserve tightened their toes in apprehension upon seeing two snow leopards leap from Chen Ying’s car.

Er Niu rubbed against Chen Ying’s thigh and followed behind Yellow Fur, quickly darting into the shrub area.

The shrub area wasn’t entirely covered with shrubs since it was a high-altitude, cold region. There weren’t many trees here, and there were quite a few exposed rocks scattered throughout the shrub area.

The two snow leopards alternated between the shrubs and the exposed rocks, disappearing quickly from the area.

“Mr. Chen, what are these?”

The veterinarian came over and whispered, his phone’s memo app still open, his intent to learn not at all subtly hidden.

Chen Ying didn’t keep him guessing. “Er Niu has a really good nature and possesses a natural closeness to humans. It was the one who rescued people before. This time, when the child from the pasture entered the uninhabited area and encountered a pack of wolves, it was again Er Niu, along with the one with the yellower fur, that saved them.”

“It’s very smart. I just want it to help locate those crazed leopards. We don’t need them to fight—just blocking the others’ escape route would be enough.”

Patrol Officers only knew the approximate location, so they still had to carefully search the mountain.

With the help of Er Niu and Yellow Fur, the search time should be shortened somewhat.

So many people couldn’t all go in one direction.

Responsible Old Yang divided the manpower into three teams, heading to three places where they were most likely to appear.

Chen Ying and the young veterinarian separated, and another local veterinarian entered another team.

“We each have anesthetizing blowguns equipped, hoping to safely bring them down for examination.”

Old Yang followed beside Chen Ying, heading toward the middle part of the canyon where the possibility was greatest.

Another team went up the mountain at the same location but in the opposite direction.

Another team drove along the dirt road for seven or eight kilometers, going upstream from the river, searching for leopard traces among the bushes and spruce forests on both sides.

After walking for about an hour, they found paw prints and scat left by the Flower Leopard on the road.

It was unclear if they were left by one leopard, but judging from the dryness of the scat, it had stayed here at least within the day.

They carefully collected samples in bags, took photos and marked them, and then continued toward their target.

“We’re about fifty meters away. There’s a steep slope ahead, so we need to take a detour.”

Old Yang, panting, leaned on his waist, looked at Chen Ying beside him who seemed not tired at all, and couldn’t believe it.

“Dr. Chen, your physical strength is really good. Although the mountain doesn’t look high, it’s exhausting to climb. You seem to have no trouble at all.”

“It’s okay, mainly because I used to live on the mountain, so I got used to climbing up and down every day.”

The altitude of Jiamu Gully is not as high as here, but its mountains are not shorter than here.

His physical strength had indeed improved a lot in these one or two years, at least more than twice as strong as during his school days.

Old Yang led them to take a detour.

Even the better path had a slope of about sixty degrees.

The ranger, Little Ji, climbed up first, then found a rock to fix the rope, threw it down so that the people below could climb up more easily by holding it.

Little Ji was a local, skilled in climbing, he had once joined a rock climbing team but somehow had a falling out with the team leader and returned to become a ranger.

In spots where others saw no path, he could easily ascend and descend.

The fifty meters walk around probably took an extra hundred meters. When they reached their destination, they didn’t see a single piece of leopard fur.

No, there was fur, fur torn off during fighting, entangled in the bushes, very clear.

Chen Ying went over, collected all the fur, and also put the blood-stained rocks into bags.

“Old Yang, ask if the other teams have found anything.”

The reply was somewhat disheartening; the leopards were not seen at any of the spots.

“Could these guys know we’re coming to catch them and have hidden?”

“Do you think those leopards can understand our words?”

“I think they can understand, otherwise why can’t any of our three teams find them on the mountain?”

Chen Ying’s ears twitched, and he saw a small head peeking out from the bare rock above.

(Tiger marmot: “Put on my little flower hat, let me see who’s disturbing Master Weasel’s sleep.”)

“What the heck, why is this thing here?”

Chen Ying was so shocked that he almost dropped the sample bag in his hand.

The records about the tiger marmot are plentiful, but it’s generally confirmed that their active range is around an altitude of one thousand meters in desert and semi-desert areas. There are records of them in wetlands, but they are extremely rare.

The lowest altitude in the Sanjiang Reserve is over three thousand meters, not to mention their current location, which is basically around 4500 meters. How can this little guy survive?

But in terms of the environment, it suits their preferences here.

But the altitude!

We still need to talk some science!

The little guy curiously looked at Chen Ying. After a while, it came out from the crevice of bare rock,

Chen Ying slowly approached it and reached out his hand.

In his palm lay a piece of rabbit jerky, half moist, unsure if the little guy would like it.

The little guy, wearing its little flower hat, approached Chen Ying’s palm, stretched out its paws, grabbed the jerky, and took a bite.

Did not like it much, but could accept it.

After it finished eating, Chen Ying took the opportunity to ask if it had seen three mad leopards.

Unexpectedly, that really hit a nerve for the little guy.

It instantly became furious, squeaking loudly, all accusatory towards those leopards.

Its partner, the one it fancied to be the mother of its children, was scared away by these mad leopards, moved overnight, and it didn’t know where to find its beloved.

After listening to its complaints, Chen Ying felt so sympathetic, he could only struggle to hold back his laughter and promised to help it take revenge.

The Tiger marmot looked at him for a while, then pointed in a direction.

“In the early morning when the sky had just lightened, they ran up the mountain.”

Chen Ying looked up, the mountain top had snow, and the shady side was a bare rock area, likely inhabited by Snow Leopards.

So, were they going to provoke the Snow Leopards?