Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 399 - 399: 396

Babies need a wash on their third day, and Er Niu's baby was no exception.

On the third day, several Tibetans brought gifts, especially from the Pastoral Village near Uncle Tashi's, who, learning of Er Niu giving birth to cubs, provided a complete set of traditional Tibetan newborn gifts.

Chen Ying was stunned at the sight.

"The elders say that when an Elf gives birth to cubs, it bestows blessings upon us. Er Niu is our Snow Mountain Elf. Now that it has given birth to cubs, we definitely must express our joy," said Uncle Tashi.

Uncle Tashi knew not to stay long, fearing the human scent would affect the Snow Leopard Cubs. He quickly left after setting down the gifts.

Before leaving, he repeatedly reminded Chen Ying that once Er Niu's children were able to walk and run, they must be sent back to the Pastoral Village in the west.

Uncle Tashi had only left in the morning when, by afternoon, another nearby Pastoral Village also came to give gifts.

The gifts were basically the same.

Ci Ren, who came to offer gifts, quietly told Chen Ying that their village hoped Er Niu would stay and hoped Chen Ying could help.

"I really can't help with that. It's up to Er Niu to decide where it wants to live; I cannot decide for it," Chen replied.

"I understand. Just talk to Er Niu, ask it to raise its cubs before leaving, okay?"

Chen Ying admitted he truly couldn't comprehend the villagers' 'superstitious' beliefs.

Fortunately, the villagers were reasonable people, understanding that wild animals couldn't be forced to live in a certain place. They simply didn't want to be outdone by another Pastoral Village.

In the end, it was a bit about face-saving.

The formal tradition was to perform a "coloring" ceremony for newborns, but Snow Leopard Cubs obviously couldn't be treated the same as human children, so instead, gifts like Qingke Wine, Butter Tea, meat, and butter were given.

They also set up a stone mill about ten meters in front of the tent, burned pine and cypress branches for fragrance, recited some blessings, then hung the Hada on the pen's gate and left.

Yin Li was fine with this, having participated in a few "coloring" ceremonies for the team members' children, but it was Chen Ying and Sun Qihai's first encounter with this, and they were incredibly curious.

After obtaining Ci Ren and the others' permission, they filmed a video, blurred the faces of those who appeared, edited a short clip, and sent it to the group chat.

They also conveniently sent a copy to Qing Province Wildlife Conservation Center.

That same day, the public account of Qing Province Wildlife Conservation Center posted the video, congratulating Er Niu on successfully giving birth to four healthy cubs, three males and one female.

The internet still has its memories. Especially the old fans of Qing Ye, who, following the online buzzwords, found reports on Er Niu.

Knowing that this was a Snow Leopard that had saved people in distress, the comments unanimously congratulated Er Niu on welcoming her four cubs.

The two individuals Er Niu had once saved also saw the news and immediately called Yin Li to confirm, then transferred money to him, saying it was a congratulatory gift for Er Niu.

"Brother Yin, buy some nice food and drink for Er Niu. I saw the editor of Qing Ye's public account say that its labor was somewhat difficult and that one of the cubs isn't particularly healthy. Use this money to help them regain their strength. If it's not enough, let me know, and I'll send more," they said.

Yin Li was startled by the amount.

So much money, not even a human being doing confinement needed that much, let alone Er Niu.

"Accept it. If Er Niu doesn't use it all, then create a special account with the remainder, specifically for rescuing cubs," they said.

With the conversation having reached this point, Yin Li couldn't refuse. He accepted the money and reported the source of the funds to the center for their records.

If it turned out to be excess and there was a need to create a special account to rescue more cubs, it would also require the center's intervention.

Unsure whether someone had leaked the news, in the following days, both Qing Ye and River Source Center started receiving calls inquiring about donation accounts, saying they wanted to contribute a share for Er Niu...

The headache was for Qing Ye and River Source Center to deal with, while the rest stop here enjoyed peaceful days, focusing entirely on raising cubs.

Yellow Fur and Little Snow Leopard returned again.

This time, neither leopard entered Er Niu's pen. They found a cave at the foot of the mountain, drove away the Sand fox and Ground squirrel that lived inside, and forcefully took over the residence.

And just a week after Er Niu's delivery, River Source welcomed the first group of 57 migrating Tibetan antelope.

Yin Li had to rush back to carry out his conservation tasks.

After he left, Chen Ying and Sun Qihai took turns on night duty, protecting Er Niu and the dog wet nurse's cubs.

After all, the migration and birthing of Tibetan antelope had started, which also meant that the number of top predators gathering around had increased.

Er Niu still couldn't leave the den for long periods to hunt, and her daily food mostly depended on the Snow Leopard's feeding.

And because she was nursing her children, her once every three to five days eating schedule had changed to needing food every other day.

The Snow Leopard tirelessly went out to hunt every day, visibly more exhausted than before.

So, raising cubs truly was a strenuous matter.

Luckily, in addition to the Snow Leopard, there were Er Niu's good friends Yellow Fur and Little Snow Leopard, who would also bring prey to feed Er Niu every now and then.

The rest station's location was not on the migration path, so to enjoy this two-month feast, one must follow the herds of Tibetan antelope deep into the uninhabited region.

Yellow Fur and Little Snow Leopard waited until June before they followed the main herd of Tibetan antelope and left. By that time, Er Niu had already regained her strength and was able to take turns hunting with the Snow Leopard.

In half a month's time, the growth of the four Snow Leopard cubs had gradually split into two tiers.

Big Zai and Second Cub were of a very standard size, nursing and playing normally.

(img data-ywcc-imgId="10223626" data-ywcc-path="/imgChapter/20330067201651401/29640027107340604/10223626/3e5643aee714fa6c3c3fea141fd117469yF12hG8974yJGq.jpg")

(Born ten days ago, the wild Snow Leopard Cubs)

Third cub was a little sister, physically a bit weaker, but still within the normal range for female Snow Leopard Cubs.

But Si Zai was a bit different. Not only was its physique weak, but it seemed to have some problems with its digestive system.

Chen Ying had seen Si Zai have diarrhea several times in the surveillance, and Er Niu seemed distressed when cleaning up after it. There were one or two times when she picked up Si Zai to leave the den but after walking around a few circles, she put the cub back again.

After contacting experts from Qing Province, they had already driven over, prepared to first examine the Snow Leopard Cub here. If it was just a simple gastrointestinal issue, they could add some medicine to the formula to help treat it.

But if it was another problem, then the little cub would have to leave its mother and go to Qing Ye for further examination and treatment.

The results of the preliminary examination brought mixed emotions.

Si Zai didn't have any major issues; the current results were most likely stubborn intestinal gas, which was treatable. However, this condition is very prone to recurrence, and in the wild, animal mothers have no way to treat such diseases. The outcome for cubs afflicted with it was only death.

Now, the dilemma before them was whether to take Si Zai away for artificial rearing.

If they did take it away, it meant that it would most likely be separated from the natural world and from then on only be raised in human captivity.

Unless in the coming years, the release of Snow Leopards back into the wild made significant progress, then perhaps it could return to nature.

After all, cubs raised by humans from infancy were different from those rescued during the sub-adult stage.

The former, without a mother's guidance, simply couldn't master the various skills needed for life in the wild.

Of course, Chen Ying could let the staff from Qing Ye take the cub away first and then later have it taught by Er Niu.

But he could not make this decision lightly, as not everyone could communicate with animals without barriers like he could.

It's better not to accumulate too many wrong experiences.

Before Chen Ying could think it through, Er Niu made the decision for him.

Seeing Si Zai placed before him, Chen Ying pursed his lips, quickly put the cub into the incubator, and handed it over to the staff from Qing Ye.

One more look and he'd have been compelled to keep Si Zai.

It was just a pity that the conditions here were not suitable; he couldn't treat Si Zai himself as he had done in Jiamu Gully.

This time, he again found himself contemplating the idea of building a second emergency rescue station.

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