Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 373 - 371: Has This Kid Regressed?

Jiamu Gully Mountain was harmonious, but a certain virtual meeting room featured nothing but frowning faces.

"This should be placed with us," the speaker's tone was resolute, "we've been preparing for this for over twenty years, and the conditions are mature."

"Ha, you talk as if we haven't prepared. We started the project no later than you."

"How can it be the same? You just have a lab with a tiny bit of land. It's different here. We have nearly 700 acres of forest in the core zone, plus a buffer zone and an experimental area, sufficient to accommodate five Huanan tigers living here. When the little tigers grow up, they could even expand their territory on their own."

"Our place isn't bad either, isn't 400-plus acres enough for a tigress with cubs?"

"Ha, you have the nerve to mention such a small area for wild tigers."

When it came to territory, the other two research bases certainly couldn't compare, but they had their own advantages.

On the fifth screen, the organizer of the meeting couldn't help but laugh and cough twice before interrupting the arguing researchers.

"Today's meeting was called to try and bring this tigress and her two cubs to our side. On the map, our side is the real South China. But South China without the South China tiger, how does that make sense?"

"Stop arguing, the most important thing now is how to negotiate with the Sichuan Province Forestry and Grassland Bureau, and get Dr. Chen to agree to cooperate to transfer the tigress and her cubs to be released in our area."

Those outside the circle might not know how much autonomy Dr. Chen had, but without his consent, truly no one could force him.

Some might say, as a national action, individuals must cooperate.

Alright, he might cooperate, but can you make the animals cooperate?

Speaking of forcibly taking them away, are you afraid the tiger won't die or what?

After more than thirty years, they had finally seen the possibility of the South China tiger surviving in the wild—no one would dare mess it up, and those who had spent most of their lives studying the Huanan tiger wouldn't be the first to let them!

Chen Ying still didn't know that someone was already scheming for the tigress and her two cubs.

But in fact, he was also actively considering this issue.

It wasn't that he was particularly enlightened; rather, in his view, Jiamu Gully's nature reserve, along with the adjacent two nature reserves, had no problem with the reproductive rates of species. As long as no one foolishly set the mountain on fire, living harmoniously like this, not to mention the reappearance of the South China tiger, he wouldn't be surprised if the saber-tooth tiger reappeared one day.

Of course, mentioning the saber-tooth tiger was a bit fantastic, but he meant just that.

It was not long ago that there was a report that a species declared extinct in the wild for over a hundred years had magically reappeared somewhere.

True or not, it still showed that sometimes human-perceived extinction still had a glimmer of hope.

Just like their discovery of wild South China tigers here, in the unpopulated primitive forest, how could you know for sure that there were no tigers left?

Not to mention far-off cases, there was at least one male in the reserve on the left and at least a male and a female on the right, now with several tiger cubs that had begun living independently.

The foster mother tigress he had here wasn't even counted yet – that made seven or eight in total. Even considering only the male territory, this density was pretty high.

Of course, the core area of their reserve alone had 400 square kilometers, which were more than enough to sustain these few cats.

It was just as Chen Ying was finishing up the tiger cubs and refocusing on treating illnesses in Dong Sheng that someone from a neighboring reserve reached out to him through private connections.

This was already crossing provincial lines, and Chen Ying did not understand why they approached him.

The visitor arranged to meet him in Jiamu Gully Town, accompanied by two young resident officers from Xiaozhai Village.

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand your intention. There shouldn't be any giant panda-related issues in your reserve, should there? In terms of wild giant pandas, isn't your reserve the most populated?"

"Yes, but our reserve also has problems that need expert analysis."

Chen Ying glanced at him, then at the more familiar resident officer, frowning slightly.

"I'm not some expert, I'm just a veterinarian. If you're looking for an expert on giant pandas, I can help you get in touch."

The man quickly explained, "Dr. Chen, we have already consulted experts from the base and center about this issue, but there's still no conclusion."

Xiong Youming sighed with frustration.

"To be honest, Dr. Chen, I came to you privately this time."

The new resident officer, Little Yin's sister, was his classmate; it was only through some roundabout ways that Little Yin helped connect them.

"Although the experts talk confidently, I personally can't fully agree with their opinions. The leaders of the reserve also have differing opinions, that's why, having no alternative, I came to consult you."

He opened his backpack, took out a laptop, and showed Chen Ying a video from a folder.

"This giant panda, in our reserve, could practically do as it pleases. Last year, it encountered a black bear on the mountain and directly smashed the bear's skull."

Chen Ying glanced at it but couldn't discern any problem.

"Please look at these videos."

Three videos were consecutively opened, all featuring the same giant panda.

One video showed it tearing apart a bamboo rat to eat, and in the other two videos, the giant panda was feasting grandly on an antelope carcass.

After watching them, Chen Ying still didn't understand what he was trying to convey.

"This giant panda is a key monitoring subject in our reserve. But according to the monitoring records accumulated over two years, the main diet of this giant panda is not bamboo, but meat."

It was not unusual for giant pandas to eat meat, the most famous meat-eating panda being the "Sheep Eating Witch" Jia Si.

According to statistics, Jia Si had descended from the mountains twelve times, killed twenty sheep, eaten fifteen, and injured six.

On her last nocturnal raid into a villager's sheep pen, the female demon killed five out of nineteen sheep in one go and gorged herself on one and a half sheep.

After eating, she didn't leave but slept soundly in the sheep pen until dawn.

Unable to tolerate it anymore, the villagers called people from the Giant Panda Protection Center, who captured Jia Si, caged her, and took her away.

Moreover, pictures of giant pandas gnawing on bones taken in recent years also showed that giant pandas are not strictly herbivorous and several times, their feces were found to be grey-white containing undigested animal tissues and hair.

Of course, the "Sheep Eating Witch" seems to be an anomaly and not very representative.

And this friend from afar brought videos that only prove that another meat-loving giant panda has appeared thousands of miles away.

"No, if it was just about that, I wouldn't have come to you." Xiong Youming frowned and laughed bitterly, "This panda used to eat bamboo, but in recent years its frequency of eating meat has increased. We worry if it might have mutated. The reserve organized two captures to try to bring it back for research, but were unsuccessful."

Seeing Chen Ying's expression change slightly, Xiong Youming paused, realizing his words could be misunderstood, and quickly explained that they did not intend to use this panda for scientific research, but merely wanted to check its health to see if something was wrong.

Chen Ying's face darkened even more. Eating meat is now a sickness?

There are also people who eat vegetables and those who eat meat among humans, why haven't you brought the vegetarians for a check?

Little Yin, proficient in monitoring expressions, immediately knew her older sister's old classmate was not very articulate.

Worried that the conversation might escalate her anger, she quickly interjected.

"Brother Xiong Da's meaning wasn't clear to me. Dr. Chen has said before that though giant pandas primarily eat bamboo, they also eat meat. This panda just eats more meat, what's the problem with that?"

Xiong Youming also realized his words might be misunderstood, but being naturally taciturn, his attempts to explain only led to further misunderstandings.

Relieved by Little Yin's words, he eased up.

"Let me put it this way, if the giant panda's main diet was bamboo, even if it ate meat daily, it wouldn't matter. But the problem now is, from the photos and videos we've captured, it hardly ever eats bamboo, it's always eating meat. Therefore, we worry there might be something wrong with its digestive system. That's why we want to bring it back to give it a thorough examination, and we definitely don't intend to use it as an experimental subject."

This explanation slightly eased Chen Ying's expression.

Actually, Panda World had always been researching this issue.

From a digestive system standpoint, giant pandas are undoubtedly more suited to eating meat. Although they've had two million years of a herbivorous lifestyle, their intestines lack enzymes suitable for breaking down fiber, and as herbivores, their intestines are only four times the length of their bodies—the same proportion as in carnivorous animals.

In recent years, several high-quality papers had confirmed that giant pandas do not rely on plant cellulose to survive, but rather on absorbing starch from bamboo.

However, this particular giant panda seems to be exhibiting atavistic phenomena, rarely eating bamboo and thus hardly absorbing any energy from starch; all its nutrients come from animal meat and bones. Such an unusual diet, understandably, piqued the curiosity of that conservation area worker.

But this wasn't the reason he had come alone; such a valuable research subject would be eagerly accepted by any research institute.

Xiong Youming hesitated and then finally confessed.

"I've been in this position for over a decade now, and I'm not looking for a promotion, just hoping to switch to a research position. I see this as an opportunity..."

Little Yin pursed her lips and slightly furrowed her brows, giving Xiong Youming a somewhat displeased look.

Why was he like this, deceiving her?

She had thought he sought her out for work reasons, kindly helping him network, but it turned out he wanted Dr. Chen's help with his research topic? How thick-skinned can one be?

Chen Ying, however, wasn't as angry as Little Yin, although he also found Xiong Youming's approach exasperating. As someone from within the circle, he understood how difficult it was for field researchers, especially those in nature reserves, to produce research results.

Watching his classmates publish papers and climb positions, unless one completely disregards it, indifference isn't really an option.

While he could understand, he still wondered, with no personal connection and no ounce of acquaintance, why should he help?