Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 394 - 392: For the Snow Leopard Grandchild, No Amount of Preparation is Too Much

"Brother, let me ask, do you think it's possible for Er Niu to take care of two cubs while we help with the other two? Once the cubs have grown up, wouldn't we release them back into the wild to live?"

"In theory, it's feasible, but the standard for releasing animals back into the wild requires that they be capable of independently finding food and shelter and avoiding risks. Animals raised by humans are not generally released because the behaviors of mammals are too complex; humans find it difficult to teach young animals to fend for themselves."

"Another point is that young animals raised by humans lack reactivity and are not sufficiently wary of humans, which is unacceptable."

While speaking, the person silently discredited Chen Ying, wondering how someone knowledgeable could make such an absurd request.

He knew Chen Ying was reluctant to part with the slightly weaker cubs, but they had to adhere to natural laws and not interfere lightly in the process of a mother animal and her cubs.

After a moment of silence, Chen Ying abandoned the idea.

The other person was right; he couldn't interfere with the upbringing of Er Niu's cubs out of sympathy, risking that the snow leopard cubs might lose their reactivity, possibly leading to even more regrettable consequences.

Despite Mendun'er constantly dumping the cubs on him before, it was actually very cautious in raising its cubs. Once the three cubs could eat some bamboo and bamboo leaves, they rarely visited the rescue center for food, just occasionally coming for a bit of milk.

Now, when it was time to train the children to forage, avoid dangers, and fight, it decisively took them away from the wind- and rain-sheltered rescue center to the rarely visited mountains and forests.

Helping Er Niu wasn't out of the question, but it could only involve reducing the cubs' contact with humans and strictly providing the food and nutrition that Er Niu needed.

Once the snow leopard cubs had grown and learned survival skills, relocating them elsewhere for release could be considered.

After deciding, he discussed it further with the veterinarian from Qing Province, who did not support the idea but did not oppose it either, agreeing to provide necessary technical support.

Chen Ying then turned to find Yin Li, asking him where his father's previous sheep pen was located.

"Go towards the experimental area, somewhere between the experimental and buffer zones, just a simple brick and tile house with two makeshift sheds. My father hasn't raised sheep there for a long time. He is now running a rural tourist spot near the national road with a partner, and business isn't bad."

Upon learning Chen Ying wanted to use the house there to help Er Niu raise her cubs, he frowned, "Can't you raise them here at the protection station? Why do you need to be so far away?"

"There are too many people around the protection station. Plus, you've built a parking station outside, so there are lots of big and small vehicles stopping here for rest and food. The environment is too noisy for a snow leopard about to give birth."

Yin Li thought for a moment, hands on his hips, "Alright, then I'll take you there first to have a look. My dad hasn't stayed there for nearly half a year; I'm not sure if everything is still there. I'll check and supply whatever's missing."

That place had an advantage; it was originally an interim resting station when the protection area was established, later deserted and then used by Yin Li's father for raising sheep.

Later, due to strict policies which banned grazing in the buffer zone, Yin Li's father sold off the sheep and went into business with others.

The site was about ten kilometers from the nearest pastoral village, connected by a dirt road to the national highway. The village had even pulled in electric cables to the temporary resting station and drilled a well nearby.

Chen Ying planned to pay himself to get an internet connection installed and to add a couple of basic ultrasound devices.

The sheep pens could be converted into birthing rooms for Er Niu. Surrounded by a purely natural environment, he would just need to monitor the growth of the cubs and would not intervene in raising them unless absolutely necessary.

Doing this meant he would have to stay in River Source for a good stretch, leaving all the work at Jiamu Gully to Little Sen and Ruan Mengmeng, and he wondered if they could handle it.

And for Dong Sheng, he needed to assess whether he could be moved here for continued treatment.

Or he could directly ask his senior brother for help with the third course of acupuncture and herbal fumigation.

His senior brother's skills were definitely up to the task; the only question was whether he would dare to perform acupuncture on a tiger.

It would take a few days to move to the temporary station, so Chen Ying reached out in advance to his teacher, especially his senior brother, who was already very busy with hospital work. He wasn't sure if he could spare the time to stay at Jiamu Gully for two weeks.

When he called, his senior sister-in-law answered and let him know his senior brother had ended up in the hospital due to several days of high-intensity work.

Given that, it was hard for Chen Ying to make his request.

After offering some verbal comfort, he sent his senior brother a red envelope, explaining that he was unable to visit while in River Source and would pay a visit once he returned.

Having ruled out his senior brother, Chen Ying had no choice but to call Ding Wen to see if he was available, to ask him to drive his specially modified vehicle to help transport Dong Sheng to the River Source Rescue Center.

Xiao Shen's research was nearly complete, already in the final thesis stage, and he had more free time to help take care of Dong Sheng at the River Source Center.

Plus, Xiao Song's acupuncture, which he had taught himself, would pose no issue in carrying out the third course of treatment for Dong Sheng under his guidance.

With a car, Chen Ying's travel between places would be convenient, virtually not delaying Dong Sheng's treatment.

Ding Wen, after receiving Chen Ying's call, immediately agreed, even mentioning he had a junior who could assist Chen Ying.

Chen Ying initially intended to refuse, but Ding Wen mentioned that the junior's family could help with the shed transformation and could also donate a set of small solar panels.

Most importantly, the junior's mother was a leading expert in genetics. Given the breadth of Chen Ying's research, who knew if he might one day need her help.

Ding Wen said he couldn't drive over by himself, so he suggested having his junior come along to meet and discuss.

Chen Ying sighed silently and agreed.

Ding Wen's efficiency was high, and considering the unusual circumstances Chen Ying had encountered, Qing Province was willing to back him, and the procedures were completed within a week.

During that week, Yin Li contacted manpower from the Pastoral Village and hurriedly renovated the rest station's rooms and redesigned two enclosures, creating an artificial rock cave.

The rest station was located at the foot of the mountain; previously, the pastoralists used to set up tents around it when they moved their herds.

A kilometer northeast of the rest station stood a rocky mountain inhabited by rock sheep, and the canyon area was home to Tibetan wild donkeys and wild yaks.

Environmentally, it was highly suitable for snow leopards.

The little snow leopard was somewhat reluctant to leave its den and chose to stay.

Er Niu followed Chen Ying to their new home, walked around the house twice after getting out of the car, and without being reminded, found the birthing room prepared for it in advance.

Just a couple of days after moving, the camera alarms installed above the enclosures went off, and Yellow Fur and the snow leopard came looking.

After circling around the front and back of the house, Yellow Fur, not seeing the little snow leopard, hesitated for a while and then decisively ran off.

Meanwhile, the snow leopard entered the den, rolled around twice to ensure there was no danger, and then came out and took over the adjacent animal shed.

With the snow leopard patrolling and keeping watch nearby, Chen Ying felt reassured enough to leave for two days, heading to River Source Rescue Center to settle Dong Sheng.

Dong Sheng's three legs were now stable, and the muscles in his still unsensing leg looked much improved.

Ruan Mengmeng massaged him twice a day, and the results were quite apparent.

Ding Wen, who had not been exposed to this type of treatment before, immediately applied to join after seeing Chen Ying and Xiao Song perform the first treatment of Dong Sheng's third therapy session at River Source.

He was willing to forego his research topic and not participate in any credit, only hoping to assist Xiao Song and learn clinical acupuncture techniques.

Xiao Song was extremely busy, and although his assistants worked hard, most of them couldn't handle tasks independently.

After all, Ding Wen was an expert, and guiding students in basic internal and external medicine was not a problem for him.

And after Chen Ying was done, Ding Wen's master's junior proactively approached him, bringing his previous research outcomes.

"If you need, I can help you contact Qing Province..."

"Brother Ying, I can contact Qing Province myself, I want to learn from you."

The young man gave a shy smile, slightly nervously pushing his glasses up his nose, "I've heard a lot about your deeds from teachers and classmates, Brother Ying. I've always aspired to follow in your footsteps and devote myself to wildlife protection. Currently, my primary research focus is on snow leopards, and it's also related to my graduation thesis. But I don't want to follow my mother's arrangements to work in the lab; I want to do the research I desire."

The young man looked very nervous, his voice becoming shaky toward the end.

Chen Ying was about to politely decline, but after some thought, he did not reject him outright.

"I trained in clinical veterinary medicine, so you won't be able to engage in any high-level research with me. However, if you want to study snow leopards, I can provide you with some conveniences. But let me be clear upfront, the principle of wildlife protection is not to forcibly change the living patterns and environments of the animals. So you can observe them, but without my permission, you must not make contact with them directly."

This is why he would rather endure a lonely life alone, bringing Er Niu away from the Protection Station to a place close to the wild to give birth, to minimize the impact of human activity on the young animals.

However, since the young man specifically studied snow leopards, if Chen Ying wanted to apply for translocation conservation in the future, he might need his research results.

Back in Jiamu Gully, when Mendun'er gave birth, only he and Little Sen occasionally went over to check and provide food.

From this perspective, the approach had an effect, at least the wildness of Mendun'er's three Cubs had not diminished, showing high vigilance towards humans other than him and Little Sen.

The temporary rest station was spacious, with enclosures on the far west, and Chen Ying planned to place the young man on the far east side to minimize his contact with Er Niu.

Although Er Niu had more contact with humans before, it was now a mature "big cat" with a certain level of vigilance and self-preservation ability.

But its unborn child must be completely isolated from humans.

Even Chen Ying himself would not frequently touch the cubs, preferring to observe them daily through cameras.

Thus, before Er Niu gave birth, all equipment had to be properly installed.

Ding Wen's connections were broad enough to secure a sponsored set of surveillance equipment from a manufacturer in exchange, Chen Ying painted a full-wall mural advertisement for the manufacturer at the rest station.

Regardless of whether anyone saw it, the attitude had to be exactly right.