Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 384 - 382: Domineering Big Bear, 2 Ha Double Leopard

Half an hour after Chen Ying and his companions left, a giant panda came wobbling over, a bone from some unknown animal clamped in its mouth.

From the outside, it didn't look much different from other pandas, but the sharpness of its exposed teeth and its oppressive gaze easily betrayed its ferocity.

It arrived at the campsite, sniffing around before heading to where the pots and pans were stored, ripping apart the covered waterproof cloth with its teeth. Unfortunately, nothing inside was edible.

Feeling deceived, the giant panda angrily pushed everything onto the ground, then leaned against the rock wall, sat down, and began sucking on the bone.

The two leopards, hidden in the trees above, watched the giant panda chew on the bone, their brief surge of courage quickly shrinking back.

After finishing with the bone, the giant panda didn't discard it but held onto it in its paws and dozed off on the spot.

The leopards waited a while longer before clumsily climbing down from the other side, quickly seeking the "Two-legged beast" that had saved them.

The sleeping giant panda slightly opened one eyelid, glanced around, and unbothered, continued to sleep.

The place Chen Ying and his group had gone to wasn't far, located between Bamboo Forest Slope and the Shallow Beach.

That area featured a sparsely wooded land with large patches of shrubs. Water deer favored this spot as there was plenty of food and it also provided easy access to water for play.

During hot days, they simply hid in the bushes for a delightful nap, waking up to a pleasantly cool evening.

Chen Ying brought Shu Nan there to observe the water deer, while also teaching him some common skills for field research projects.

His field of study was veterinary science, so much of his knowledge related to medicine, and he couldn't specialize in studying each species.

Shu Nan's situation was similar; even if joining fieldwork outdoors, he only needed to master the basics. The specific research was handled by experts, and his task was to satisfy the logistical needs.

Most of the experience Chen Ying offered could be found in textbooks, but many practical details required accumulated experience to effectively apply.

After about an hour, Chen Ying put away his camera and called Shu Nan to head back.

"I'll think about another direction to search this afternoon."

He picked up the binoculars and scanned the surroundings, regretting not having brought the drone, which would have made searching easier.

"Brother Ying, the leopards…" Shu Nan acclimated quite fast, but still couldn't help feeling weak at the knees upon seeing the two leopards.

Chen Ying turned to look, gestured with his hand, and the two timid leopards approached, whimpering and tattling.

Seeing this, Shu Nan's mental filter shattered.

How different were these silly leopards from the cats at home?

They were just a bit larger, had sharper teeth, and were a bit stronger...

When they all added up to a full score, it was still quite frightening.

After listening to the leopards' whining complaints, Chen Ying raised his eyebrows. "Good heavens, I've searched high and low, and unexpectedly, it's right there by the tent!"

What are we waiting for? Let's hurry back, or we might not even save the tent.

The two men and two leopards quickly retreated. Upon approaching the tent, they heard loud snoring; indeed, the giant panda's snoring was thunderously loud.

Hearing someone approach, the giant panda merely opened an eyelid to look before turning back over and continuing its slumber.

Chen Ying also noticed sharply that it had taken the little blanket the leopards snatched and now held it tight in its embrace.

His little blanket was attracting animal affection? He hadn't noticed that back at Jiamu Gully.

Telling Shu Nan to stay back at a safe distance, Chen Ying slowly approached the giant panda.

The giant panda turned over, stood up, and bared its teeth at Chen Ying, shaking its hefty bulk before moving towards the bamboo forest in an inward-kneed stroll.

Chen Ying promptly stepped aside, quickly assessing the giant panda's size.

Great Bai was already considered large, but this fellow was at least a head taller and noticeably more robust, its paws more akin to those of a brown bear.

If not for reproductive barriers between species, Chen Ying might have wondered if this bear was a hybrid from the Bear World.

From the giant panda's appearance, it clearly had substantial subcutaneous fat, but its muscle definition was also pronounced. Its movements appeared slow, yet any prey it caught was no weakling.

After a few steps, the giant panda suddenly stopped, turned its head back, then reverted to its sleeping spot, haphazardly wrapping up the little blanket and taking it in its mouth before walking out again.

This behavior was almost like the Beidong sun bears.

However, Meng Er was famously a panda taught by humans, and its mother hadn't spent even a day with it. It was raised meticulously by Daddy.

From splitting bamboo to folding blankets and drying mats, it learned everything from Daddy.

This giant panda couldn't possibly have a Daddy, so where did it learn to carry the blanket?

Chen Ying didn't believe giant pandas had a habit of covering with blankets.

Regardless of what he thought, the giant panda pompously walked past him.

Chen Ying, as if momentarily lightheaded, reached out and grabbed a handful of the giant panda's fur.

The feel of the fur was somewhat coarse, not as soft as other giant pandas'.

However, the fur of giant pandas was not particularly soft, but rather somewhat stiff. Of course, furry panda cubs were different.

Basically, all animals have cotton-soft baby fur.

"I feel like I've been violated," the giant panda glared fiercely as it turned its head. Chen Ying raised his hands high, mumbling, "It was you who brushed against me, not me deliberately touching you."

The look in the giant panda's eyes flickered, then it glared fiercely again, giving him a warning look.

Only after the giant panda had disappeared into the forest did Chen Ying hurriedly call Shu Nan over to help.

"Give me two sample bags. The fur on my hands, and check the spot where it was lying for any hair or bodily fluids, poop—gather everything."

Two leopards curiously watched the two two-legged beasts bustling about. They tried to approach, but Chen Ying firmly pushed them away.

"Stop causing trouble, go play over there. Don't get your fur mixed up with its, it would increase the difficulty of my job."

Rejected and annoyed, the two leopards backed off. The brothers huddled together, seemingly conspiring about something, and in the blink of an eye, they were out of sight.

Chen Ying didn't think much of it—after all, they were wild animals, and he couldn't just forbid them from leaving.

"The waterproof cloth is unusable now, but we can leave it for those two silly leopards. The damaged stuff should be tossed—put it in the trash bag and we'll take it out with us."

"Clean up here, and I'll check the other side to see if I can find some fresh feces it might have left."

Shu Nan's face briefly changed, he sighed and nodded to continue.

Indeed, when he had come here, his classmates were joking about him becoming a "Poop Picker." At first, he had denied it outright but now it seemed, having chosen this path, his days of picking poop were far from over.

Indeed, the poop of meat-eaters is different from that of those who eat bamboo.

But overall, it still slightly differed from pure carnivores.

Chen Ying inspected the sample bags, carefully double-bagging them and placing them in a specially designed portable sample box for isolated storage.

Just as he returned to the camp and set down the samples box, without even a chance to speak to Shu Nan, he heard a roar—it seemed to be from the giant panda.

Chen Ying was startled. Could there be another apex predator here capable of facing off with it?

Three minutes later, seeing the two leopards return, disheveled and fearful, Chen Ying slightly squinted his eyes.

"Did you two go provoke that big guy?"

"Hmm hmm." The two leopards approached, opening their mouth as if to invite Chen Ying to take something.

Chen Ying looked down and saw, indeed, those two silly leopards had actually plucked fur from the giant panda.

Seeing the tuft of hair with the skin, Chen Ying tensed up, feeling a pang of pain for the giant panda for three seconds.

"Quick, Brother Nan, the sample bags."

Having managed to collect the fur the leopards had plucked, Chen Ying felt his heart rate increase significantly.

"You two aren't allowed to provoke it anymore, or you might end up in its belly."

Grabbing the faces of the two leopards, Chen Ying sternly cautioned.

"I don't need its fur now, just take care of yourselves, understood?"

The two leopards placed their front paws on Chen Ying's arms, making "purring" sounds, still trying to stick out their tongues to lick him.

"Brother Ying, do you feel these two leopards are too friendly?"

Shu Nan watched for a while, feeling that something was off.

Chen Ying had noticed this issue too. Plus, the leopards depended on cooperation for hunting, and from their behavior, it really seemed like they had been raised by humans.

Shu Nan thought for a moment before speculating, "Brother Ying, could it be that their mother died shortly after giving birth to them, and then they were raised by people in the mountains, just like house cats or dogs? Then upon realizing something was amiss, they were driven away."

This possibility wasn't out of the question.

Every province has its poorer countryside areas, and even in this era, some people's knowledge still lags decades behind.

Thanks to the nation's targeted poverty alleviation and rehousing projects in recent years,, these mountain-dwelling folks were exposed to the new world.

But their elders might not accept this favor, feeling that moving away means abandoning their ancestors, which would dishonor them.

The village they had seen at the edge of the buffer zone was like this.

Completely self-sufficient, buying supplies only once a month, then returning immediately, relying solely on mules and donkeys to carry goods.

Under such conditions, raising Little leopards as cats wouldn't be impossible.

In the Far East, some of the more formidable nationalities openly keep fierce animals.

What exactly happened, Chen Ying couldn't trace back, but were these two leopards really suitable for the wild? Would they possibly disturb humans again for food, just like before?

If it's on the edge of a city, at worst, they could be captured and taken to a shelter to await release.

But if it's in a remote mountain area, even if they were killed, who would stand up for their rights?

Chen Ying exhaled. "So what do you mean?"

Shu Nan remained silent, not responding.

How to answer this—it was hard either way. His previous statement was just a guess; what if it wasn't like that, what if these two leopards could survive in the wild and reproduce?

"Let's just wait and see," Chen Ying shifted from the topic. "Contact Brother Xiong using the satellite phone, and tell him the giant panda should be here. Ask him to figure out a way to come over."

Shu Nan nodded, grabbed the phone to contact Xiong Youming, and also inquired if the nearest Protection Station could send someone over to help transport the samples for testing.