Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 293 - : The Release Turmoil

Chapter 293 -293: The Release Turmoil

In three days, the lion’s wounds had completely improved.

Professor Pang and Ding Wen had already left to attend their academic forum, and Chen Ying stayed behind to assist in treating and caring for the female lion.

Professor Careyes received news the night before that someone had again sneaked into the National Park to poach animals such as antelopes and water buffaloes.

“These animals are an important food source for the West African Lion, and due to farmland expansion, wildfires, and poaching, the West African Lion’s habitat has already shrunk by ninety-five percent.”

Two students who were responsible for helping Chen Ying take care of the female lion squatted nearby, chatting with him about the difficulties Panthera had encountered here while they watched Chen Ying stroke Big Cat.

Poaching exists in every country, but it’s especially serious in underdeveloped nations.

“Fortunately, Panthera has been providing funding for three Forest Protection Teams in the National Park to equip their weapons and vehicles. Additionally, a few other Forest Protection Teams have financial support, and they can basically protect the entire park.”

The work of the National Park Administration and Panthera was effective, and the lion group that was about to disappear seems to be maintaining at least now.

“This female lion is a member of a small lion group, which includes four female lions and one male lion. Additionally, there is an alliance of three male lions in the neighboring territory.”

The girl, whose skin was tanned by the sun, spoke with shining eyes about the lion group.

The other three female lions in the group were slightly older, so this young female lion was an important force for the continuation of the small lion group.

“We just want her to recover quickly. According to our observations, the females in the lion group will enter their estrus in about one or two months.”

The females of the lion group are synchronized, which ensures that the cubs within a population are all about the same size.

Moreover, the lionesses nurse cubs collectively, not necessarily only their own children.

Lionesses without cubs also take care of the group’s cubs, licking their fur and playing with them.

“The male lion of this small group had just defeated the old lion last year and taken over the leadership, and currently does not have any offspring of its own. It’s expected to have its own cubs this year. However, the three male lions nearby are always watching them, and at any moment, they might fight to the death over the females.”

Chen Ying listened and then scratched the female lion’s ear.

“Hear that? You should eat properly. Get well soon and go back home. Don’t you want cubs of your own?”

The female lion roared and covered her ears with her paw.

“I’m not listening; it’s all nonsense.”

She really didn’t want to have cubs. She’d be fine with helping to care for them, or she could be in charge of catching prey and bringing it back.

The female lion stood up and ran quickly to another corner of the wall, lying down with a ball Chen Ying had made for her from cowhide in her mouth.

To tell the truth, that ball was rather ugly, but the female lion liked it very much. She carried it wherever she went, living almost like a domestic dog.

After finishing the gossip, Chen Ying began teaching the two students how to diagnose and treat fractures.

The X-rays of the female lion were the best teaching tools, although the person who took them did not have very good skills. If it had been Chen Ying taking them, he would have been much more meticulous.

Even so, the two students learned a lot of what they considered miraculous knowledge of traditional Chinese veterinary orthopedics.

Chen Ying also made “Earth Mosquito Repellent” using local herbs, bundling the herbs tightly. When lit and the flame was extinguished, they used the smoke to drive away mosquitoes.

Because it was made from herbs, the smell during fumigation wasn’t irritating; on the contrary, it had a medicinal fragrance.

The female lion didn’t like the smell much and growled for Chen Ying to take it farther away.

That same evening, the professors came back with their group.

Although everyone was tired, they looked very happy.

“We successfully thwarted a poaching event this time, and an antelope narrowly escaped.”

Professor Careyes couldn’t stop smiling, showing his teeth.

“Very good, that’s the way, would love for those poachers, to stay far away.”

Chen Ying could understand their excitement, but based on what he heard from the two students about the poachers, he did not think that group would give up.

A month passed quickly.

The female lion recovered very well.

After an assessment, Professor Careyes’s team decided to release her back to her own pride.

Chen Yin’s work was successfully completed, and he even showed off his acupuncture and medicinal fumigation treatment method. Professor Everett praised him greatly and even took a video on the spot, recommending it to his colleagues and friends.

“Chen, have you already decided to leave? Can’t you stay and join my team?”

“I’m sorry, Professor Careyes, but I still have research projects to complete,” Chen Ying shrugged and smiled as he rubbed the female lion’s head. “I hope we can cooperate again in the future.”

“Of course, I’m really looking forward to seeing you work miracles again.” Careyes was very pleased.

She and her team called Chen Ying the “miraculous Eastern doctor,” especially with Chen Ying’s super affinity with wildlife and his acupuncture, which almost overturned professor Careyes’s team’s worldview.

“We’re sending her back tomorrow, will you come with us?”

Of course, he would go. Chen Ying had been here so long and had barely left the small courtyard.

Firstly, there wasn’t much to see far from the city, and secondly, as soon as he left, the two students simply couldn’t manage the female lion’s medication and dressing changes on their own.

At four-thirty in the morning, with Chen Ying’s soothing, the female lion was put into a cage and then loaded onto a vehicle to depart.

The distance from there was not far, about eighteen kilometers.

But don’t think that this eighteen kilometers could be quickly covered.

West Africa is not like the home country; there aren’t cement roads connecting every village.

For bigger places, there might be better roads to travel, but for these small villages in the National Park forests, having a dirt road was considered quite developed.

The poachers around here did not drive in; they all rode bicycles.

So on the road, one could tell by the tracks if they were poachers.

Arriving by the river, Professor Careyes arranged for people to inspect the surroundings before preparing for the release.

The river ran through the forest park and was a watering place for many animals.

“Professor, we’ve found some antelope remains by the river. Judging by the marks, it seems to have been left by a lion group. But we can’t be certain which one.”

Their location was close to the female lion’s previous pride, but the lions moved within their territory, so it wasn’t certain whether those lions were still in the same place waiting for their companion.

The methods used abroad were not the same as those used back home, where they were impractical.

Research on the African lion group in the sparse tree savanna was thorough, but progress with the West African Lions residing here had been slow.

Chen Ying didn’t interfere with the professor’s team’s work.

He was an outsider who was only responsible for assisting in the treatment of the female lion; he knew nothing about the release process or what work needed to be done.

Just as they were lowering the lion cage, two seemingly expensive vehicles stopped not far away.

Chen Ying glanced over; they were unfamiliar to him.

But Professor Careyes seemed to know the people very well, smiling and going over to embrace and greet them.

“Professor, everything is ready. Should we open the cage now?”

When the on-site assistant came over to ask, he also greeted the man in the car.

“Yes, prepare to open the cage. Let everyone get in the vehicles and pay attention to safety.”

Chen Ying also got in a car.

He got in the frontmost one, taking the passenger seat, which allowed him to make eye contact with the female lion inside the cage.

The automatic lock released, and the female lion hesitated for a moment before slowly stepping out of the cage.

Everyone watched nervously as she moved.

Seeing her walk into the forest, smiles appeared on their faces.

However, this West African lady made a turn halfway and leaped lightly to the front of the vehicle.

Many people gasped in surprise, and some even prepared to aim tranquillizer guns.

Chen Ying saw something in the female lion’s eyes, so without a word, he opened the door and got out of the car.

Professor Careyes wanted to stop him, but her husband stopped her first.

“Wait, Carey, let’s see what he’s going to do. Chen isn’t someone who would recklessly put himself in danger.”

Under everyone’s gaze, Chen Ying approached the female lion and knelt on one knee.

He reached out and stroked the lion’s head.

“You’ve recovered now. You can go home. Aren’t you happy?”

“Roar. What about you?”

“I have to go back to my home too.”

The West African lady seemed reluctant to leave this two-legged beast, nuzzling her head into Chen Ying’s embrace.

Just when she was about to act spoilt one last time, a gunshot from not far away startled everyone.

“What’s going on? Who’s shooting?”

One of the team members quickly made a call, and afterward, with a grave expression, told Professor Careyes that the Forest Protection Team had encountered poachers.

“They’re hunting antelopes one kilometer from here, and there’s also an elephant.”

As he spoke, the female lion seemed to scent something, let out a deafening roar, and ran swiftly into the jungle.

Chen Ying didn’t know the situation with the West African Lions, but judging by her behavior, he suspected that the poachers who wounded the female lion were the same group.

As Professor Careyes was inquiring about the situation, the two cars that had arrived later started up, and the man who had taken the passenger seat in the first car asked Chen Ying as he passed by if he wanted to get in and join them in the hunt for the poachers.

Chen Ying didn’t want to get involved in the operation; an unarmed man like him wouldn’t even know why he died in such a savage place.

But after all, the female lion was the Good Baby he had taken care of for a month. He wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully without ensuring her safety.

Chen Ying thought for a few seconds and then decisively pulled open the back door and got in.

The vehicle sped up, and no one in the car spoke. Chen Ying was not in the mood to make small talk, his gaze continually searching outside the window for the female lion.

The two people in the front whispered a few words in a language he wasn’t familiar with, utterly incomprehensible to him.

“Hey, Dr. Chen, nice to meet you. We’re here following a poaching team. There might be a fight later on, so just stay in the car and protect yourself, okay?”

“No problem.”

The other’s Chinese was surprisingly standard, which left Chen Ying slightly startled.

He glanced over the several people in the car, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over their waists.

The young man sitting beside him revealed a big white smile, even opened his jacket, and patted the thing at his waist.

Chen Ying pursed his lips and silently leaned closer to the car door.

Born in New China, raised under the red flag, apart from an old hunting rifle and the gun he’d handled during military training at university, he’d never been so close to such a miraculous little treasure.

His legs felt a bit weak, and he declined the offer with thanks.

“We’ve found them; they are right up ahead.”

As the vehicle accelerated, Chen Ying noticed two West African Lions concealed in the bushes, watching them intently.

(The mother lion Florence, wearing a radio collar, was lying next to another female in the pride. Photography: JOHN WENDLE)