Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 858 - 854 Identity Recognition

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The feel of a wild cheetah's fur is drastically different from that of a common house cat.

Though it looks fluffy and many people might think it's as soft as the fat cat they have at home, they would find it quite the rush when they pet it.

But in reality, when you actually stroke it, you'd find that the feel of a big cat's fur is much rougher than that of a house cat, even rougher than a dog of the same size.

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It's not that they're born with coarser hair; the difference in softness and coarseness between wild cats and domestic cats can also be felt, mainly due to the differences in feeding.

Domestic cats are well-nourished and bathe regularly, so their fur naturally tends to be softer and smoother.

The nutrition of wild animals goes without saying; it's very common for them to be hungry one moment and full the next, plus the exposure to wind and rain makes their fur dry, split, and tough.

This is actually a form of protection; tough fur gives them an advantage during fights.

Harley grew up in the conservation center, so there was never a worry about food—simply eating meat wasn't enough; the breeders would specially provide a certain amount of liver to supplement vitamins.

But baths were out of the question.

Except for animals like elephants and hippos that enjoy water and bathe regularly, most animals, after reaching adulthood, mostly maintain a state similar to that in the wild. This also helps the animals acclimate early to a wild environment and enhance their resilience.

The Kenya Conservation Center is not a zoo; most of the rescued animals are eventually returned to the wild.

As such, Harley's fur is not as soft and silky as most people imagine it to be, and some parts along the spine could even be described as stiff.

However, the fur along the flanks and neck is still softer, and, thanks to a body size that dwarfs that of house cats, the feeling of stroking it is quite distinct; there's a sense of fullness as if your entire hand is enveloped, something small animals simply cannot compare with.

The audience in front of the screen expressed their envy while also rejoicing over the success of this interaction.

In just three days, no, actually two and a half days, to be able to touch a stranger cheetah without it resisting was an unbelievable progress.

"[Should I say it's worthy of being called Master Fang?]"

"[I've been feeding a stray cat for over a month downstairs, and it has never let me touch it (sob sob sob sob)]"

"[Stray cat: That idiot who comes to feed me every day is so easy to fool, meow~]"

"[Hahaha, laughing to death]"

"[I also want to stroke a big cat sob sob sob]"

As it was the first time, Bi Fang didn't rush things. After Harley finished eating, Bi Fang withdrew his hand and didn't linger too long in Harley's space, leaving directly.

With one successful interaction, everything that followed became much easier.

In the next three feedings, even when not as hungry, Harley still chose to come forward to eat, from hesitantly at noon to naturally and calmly in the evening.

The change was surprisingly quick and mysteriously fitting.

After all, everyone had seen the whole process unfold.

The chin, the top of the head, the back—these were the areas Bi Fang focused on.

With similar physiological structures, there's not much difference between cats and cheetahs, even their comfort zones are alike.

When a cat indulges in being petted, it means it likes you; the same goes for cheetahs.

By nightfall, after having its last meal, Harley didn't leave as before but lay on the ground, allowing Bi Fang to stroke its neck.

Another progress worth celebrating.

With a foundation established, on the fourth and fifth days, the relationship between the two rapidly evolved, going through constant breakthroughs. By fifth day noon, Harley was ready to be active again.

In fact, before the breeder who discovered Harley tragically passed away, Harley had regular activity time every day, usually roaming freely within the conservation center.

The conservation center didn't often have external visitors, and even if there were, all staff would be notified to manage the animals they were responsible for to ensure that no attacks on strangers would occur.

As long as everyone was familiar with each other, even potentially dangerous animals could move around freely.

If they were to go outside the conservation center, they would wear a collar.

However, since Hamid Griffith passed away from a heart attack, Harley never left its thirty-square-meter space enclosed by wire mesh again, in order to create familiar conditions for Bi Fang and Harley.

Today was the first time.

Barry drove by on a dirt road, looking at Harley walking leisurely beside Bi Fang, and laughed, "It seems like your relationship is developing well."

"Yes, it's much more amicable than I thought it would be."

"Hahaha."

Barry laughed heartily, then twisted the handlebars, and the car sped out of sight, leaving behind the sight of the skinned pork on the back seat shaking up and down with the bumps in the road—obviously, Barry was off to feed the animals.

"[I'm envious, the animals at the conservation center eat better than I do]"

"[Does the conservation center take in human trash like me? If needed, I can show my belly.]"

"[Is the belly show-off in front someone pretty?]"

"[Nope, pure man]"

"[Crap, can you go die?]"

"[If it were a pretty lady, we could negotiate (joking)]"

"[It's already the fifth, Master Fang, tell me, can I see Harley running in the savannah before the end of the National Day holiday?]"

Seeing the last comment's query, Bi Fang glanced at Harley by his feet, pondered for a moment, and ventured a timeframe.

"Maybe on the seventh."

"in the days we've spent together, I've found Harley to be quite intelligent. In five days, it has now begun to approximately recognize who I am."

Individual recognition is not inter-individual differentiation.

This is quite easy to ascertain for animals; they can clear it up after smelling a few times.

But confirming identity is not so simple.

In the animal world, concepts of parents, friends, children, subordinates, superiors, and equals also exist.

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The confirmation of such an identity isn't so easy for animals.

Especially when it's clear they are not of the same species, the effort required to make an animal perceive another as its companion is considerable.

Even Bi Fang had to spend several days to give Harley a deep impression of being its new breeder and companion.

Perhaps this still owes to the fact that cheetahs are sociable animals.

"There's a hypothesis about animal cognitive abilities called the social intelligence hypothesis, which posits that sociable animals need to constantly monitor their peers, predict their behavior, and respond in a timely manner to collaborate or compete for resources."

"In this process, individuals with stronger cognitive abilities will benefit from these challenges, and better survive and reproduce, thereby gaining an evolutionary advantage."

"Therefore, the more complex the social structure, the more it promotes the evolution of cognitive abilities."

"Since it's just a hypothesis and hasn't been substantiated, and there are even many contradictory experiments, I'm just mentioning it for everyone to hear."

Two female scientists from the Ugly Country conducted experiments to see who was smarter, lions or tigers, and the results of the two experiments contradicted each other.

From the University of Miami, Natalia Borrego designed a puzzle feeding box that, if animals pulled a rope in the right direction, would open the box door and grant access to the meat inside.

She used spotted hyenas and three species of big cats as experimental subjects, with 48 animals participating in the experiment, each given three attempts.

The results showed that out of nine spotted hyenas, eight opened the box, 16 out of 21 lions were successful, six out of 11 leopards succeeded, and only two out of seven tigers managed to do so.

This result supports the "social intelligence hypothesis"; the cooperative spotted hyenas and lions proved to be more innovative than the solitary tigers and leopards.

"Being gregarious predators as well, the spotted hyenas performed better than the lions in the experiment, which may be because the social structure of spotted hyenas is more complex."

"Spotted hyenas live in rigidly hierarchical clans, while lion group members have equal status."

"Spotted hyenas face more challenges when managing social status and relationships than lions do."

"In 2015, Natalia published her experiment as a paper with the title—The problem-solving capabilities of social carnivores surpass those of non-social carnivores."

"However, as those who have conducted scientific experiments should know, testing only a small sample of four animals is of questionable representativity."

"So Sarah Benson-Amram from the University of Wyoming also published her research findings as a paper in 2015. Her study was more thorough and detailed, involving 39 species across 9 families of the order Carnivora."

"She also designed a puzzle feeding box, where animals could open the box door by pulling out a peg to access the food inside."

"For the four animals in Natalia's experiment, the success rate of the spotted hyenas in opening the box remained the highest in Sarah's experiment at 40%, but the success rate of the tigers jumped to 33.3%, ranking second, with the lions and leopards falling to third and fourth."

"The discrepancy between the two experimental results might be due to different experimental apparatuses; Natalia's experiment involved pulling a rope, whereas Sarah's required the removal of a peg, which was relatively more challenging."

"Another possible reason might be individual differences, as some animals in certain zoos might have been trained and were particularly intelligent."

"These two contradictory outcomes cannot prove or disprove the social intelligence hypothesis; it might be correct in some aspects but not comprehensive, so I'm just putting it out there for everyone to broaden their perspective."

"But Harley is indeed quite smart, I'll take it out to the prairie tomorrow to see how it behaves, and if all goes well, I will try my best to begin live streaming before the seventh."

The period from the first to the seventh is the National Day holiday.

Now, with Bi Fang's fanbase becoming increasingly global, the domestic audience has long ceased to constitute half of the live stream room's proportion, but it still hovers around one-third. He's still quite considerate and tends to cater to them; if possible, he prefers to start during the holidays.

[Wow, these days, without reading some papers, you'd be embarrassed to call yourself a Wilderness Survivalist.]

"Don't be so all-around!"

"That's terrifying."

"I always thought that the development of a profession was rapid and gradual until I discovered Master Fang. He just took Wilderness Survivalist to the pinnacle (facepalm)."

"Indeed, Rock Climbing god, speed descending god, some extreme players, there's always someone more awesome showing up. I believe there will be record breakers in the future, but Master Fang, to be honest, I really can't imagine what more awesome would look like."

"It's not that serious, not that serious."

Bi Fang gave a heh and squatted down to touch Harley's ears.

Walking on the pathway, Harley's body appeared even more agile, graceful, filled with the unique charm of the feline family.

Felines are recognized as charming species, and among them, if one were to choose the most beautiful, different people might have different answers.

For instance, the Snow Leopard with its white fur adorned with black spots, like a spirit of the snowfields.

Others may choose the Lion, with its dense mane exuding an overwhelming presence.

And those who favor the Cheetah will certainly not be few in number, with slender limbs and graceful form, embodying both elegance and beauty.

Being able to have such a beautiful creature follow you on a walk is definitely an experience worth recording in one's life.

Bi Fang spent over an hour with Harley at the Kenya Conservation Center to alleviate the gloom Harley felt from being confined within the wire mesh for so long. Then, they returned to the enclosure, but this time Bi Fang didn't leave. Instead, to everyone's surprise, he started to clean up nearby, clearing a small space.

Harley sat in the shadow of the partition, sweeping the ground with its tail, yawning out of boredom.

"Harley behaved well today. Tomorrow, I plan to take Harley out to the grasslands to see things, and to bridge our distance more quickly, I'm going to sleep with Harley tonight, right here in the enclosure. I'll just find a spot and lay out a bed."

"It's just getting used to it in advance. In a couple of days, when we're actually out in the wilderness, this will be an everyday occurrence."

Bi Fang, accustomed to sleeping outdoors, had no discomfort with the idea of setting up a makeshift bed on the ground.

The viewers, however, expressed their own opinions.

"Damn, I want to sleep with the big cat too."

"Ah, isn't that dangerous?"

"It shouldn't be."

"To be honest, cats, I feel, are truly not as reliable as dogs. Sometimes you just don't know what they're thinking. Maybe one second they're playing nice, and the next second they scratch you."

"This is being provoked (joking)."

"Of course, I've considered all these things, but as I said, it's actually about getting accustomed to it beforehand. After all, there will be more days like this in the future, sooner or later it's all the same."

"I wouldn't make such a decision without being fairly certain."

Bi Fang reassured the viewers.

He knew much more about feline behavior and reactions than the viewers did, and over the days of being together, he had also gained a general understanding of Harley's character, so he could ensure safety.

Everything unfolded just as Bi Fang had predicted, with no unexpected incidents.

The next morning, Bi Fang awoke to find the Cheetah curled up beside him, huddled close.