Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 425 - 416: Do You Need Volunteers? The Kind Who Carries Burdens Forward

"Little Ying, what are you doing? You're fully grown, yet you still eat in such a rush—are you getting burned?"

Professor Bai was startled and, noticing Chen Ying's expression was off, he set down his bowl, "What's the matter? Speak up. We can solve the problem together."

"It's nothing, I just heard Little Sen say that Chanchan found a cave at the base of Snow Mountain to nest in, and it suddenly reminded me of a cave on the mountain, one said to have been used by people hiding from bandits in the past. I remember elders saying when I was a child that the cave has another exit on the shady side."

"So what?"

"On the shady side, there's a gorge slope with a small meadow, and the surrounding woods are a little sparser. Most importantly, there are several leopards living in that area, and I'm worried there might be an encounter."

Professor Bai thought for a moment and shook his head, "The possibility isn't great. If there were other fierce animals in the cave, the giant panda wouldn't choose it for childbirth."

"However, we still need to remind the observation group. Xiao Sen, send a message to their team leader later. If possible, it would be best to go check it out."

It wasn't fear of other wild animals in the cave, but uncertainty about the situation there, which would be troublesome to deal with if any other issue arose.

Little Sen didn't even wait to finish his meal, immediately grabbing his phone to send a reminder to the familiar Panda Man.

In less than half a minute, a call came through.

"We received a notice from the neighboring Forest Station, indicating that they spotted two wild leopards. It's still not confirmed whether they are just passing through or settling down. Your information is very timely; the station is arranging for people to go on a survey immediately."

Chen Ying, hearing this, took the initiative to offer his participation.

The main reason was that Leopard Sister mentioned that one of them was a mother leopard about to give birth, and any improper operation that causes stress could be devastating to both the mother leopard and the little leopard inside her.

This matter was urgent and could not be delayed. It was already the end of July, with the leopard's birthing season drawing to a close and the giant panda's birthing season approaching its peak.

After discussing with the other party, they agreed to meet early the next morning in North Gully, expecting to reach Chanchan's chosen cave around one in the afternoon.

They would choose a suitable location nearby to set up a temporary observation point and then split up to search for the leopard's tracks on the North Slope.

This time up the mountain, there were two new Forest Patrol Officers from the Protection Station coming along, taking over for Uncle Zhao and Uncle Yi.

"Uncle Zhao and Uncle Yi don't go up the mountain much now, mostly patrolling the nearby observation points, providing guidance and assistance to the incoming research teams."

Though they were only in their fifties, this area belonged to a high-altitude region, where the higher you go, the lower the oxygen content and the more severe the climate change, which wasn't kind to older people.

"They were actually supposed to be assigned to logistic positions at the station, but they didn't want that. They said if they couldn't go up the mountain, they could still patrol the forest at the foot of it, so the station head arranged new positions based on their wishes."

"Our Jiamu Gully Protection Station has been approved as a science and education base, and Sister Dai's rescue and shelter station is also moving up here, officially joining the Jiamu Gully Protection Station ranks."

Jiamu Gully and the surrounding two Protection Station jurisdictions were seeing an increase in animals, making their annual rescue missions quite heavy.

Chen Ying and Little Sen used to often help out, but now with Elder Tiger and Leopard Sister permanently stationed, Little Sen and Ruan Mengmeng couldn't leave; the Protection Station needed its own veterinarian.

Just as Sister Dai's development also encountered a bottleneck, coordinated by the rescue and shelter center, Sister Dai's team merged into Jiamu Gully.

"This back and forth sort of brings us back to the starting situation, I don't know what the leaders are thinking."

Little Sen muttered under his breath, only to have Ruan Mengmeng twist his arm.

"Shut it, can you compare the two? Before, Sister Dai's team was part of the center's establishment, now they're under the Protection Bureau's. The leadership above is different. Besides, if it wasn't for the Protection Station being named a science and education base, Sister Dai's team wouldn't have had the opportunity to join."

Other Protection Stations were basically forest protection, mountain patrols, and animal rescue. However, they did not have their own veterinarians and only sent rescued animals to higher-ups' designated places for treatment.

For those with minor injuries, either the Protection Bureau or local villagers would care for them until they healed and then they were released back where they were found.

Chen Ying knew even without Little Sen saying it; the leaders had arranged for Sister Dai's team to return because of Professor Bai.

After all, having the big expert here made it convenient to shamelessly seek advice on any matter.

On another note, the big expert, given his lengthy stay, might feel bored; coming out and guiding the youngsters could also be a good way to pass the time.

There was also the science and education park, which scheduled lectures once a quarter, inviting well-known experts in the field to teach the staff.

Professor Bai had already given one lecture, during a study trip of three middle schools, with 180 students and 20 teachers attending Professor Bai's engaging and entertaining introduction to animals. That event even trended online for a while.

Chen Ying was too busy and didn't like scrolling through social media, so he wasn't aware.

The next day before departure, Professor Bai handed him a wearable camera that could stably record the entire process of their mountain expedition from a first-person perspective.

"It's mainly for those animals, in their natural state. I'll edit it later and post it online. Other footage can be used for lectures to the students."

Clever move, teacher—are you recycling student projects?

Professor Bai dismissively waved his hand, signaling him to hurry up and not to delay him and Little Sen from going to see the Stone Mink cubs.

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