Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

The one who requested help was a domestic wildlife park, where a black panther had shown tendencies of self-harm.

They had already consulted several veterinarians to treat its physical injuries, but they were at a loss when it came to the panther's psychological issues.

Chen Ying reviewed the information about the black panther, Mason, that his teacher had forwarded on his phone, but he couldn't pinpoint the problem.

Mason was imported from the Malay Peninsula by the zoo.

Initially, there were two black panthers, a male and a female without any blood relation.

However, during the breeding process, the female black panther unexpectedly succumbed to a sudden illness, leaving this black panther and two other female flower leopards living in different cages within the same large area.

The zoo had once tried to breed the black panther with the two female leopards, but they had never succeeded.

Last year, one of the female leopards successfully mated with a male leopard from the neighboring province's zoo and gave birth to two little cubs this year.

The zoo then shifted its focus to the remaining female leopard and the black panther.

From July, they had been kept next to each other.

Chen Ying wondered if maybe the black panther had entered its mating season early but wasn't interested in this female leopard.

But even if it wasn't interested, that shouldn't lead to self-harm.

Self-harming behavior isn't uncommon in nature, but leopards certainly aren't among those animals.

He clicked on a photo of the black panther, and found something indescribably odd about it.

(Those two big, sparkling eyes)

This leopard seems somewhat melancholic, doesn't it?

The photo piqued Chen Ying's curiosity, and he decided to take on the task his teacher had entrusted to him.

But he definitely didn't have time these next two days; the earliest he could go would be next week.

"No problem, the leopard has injured its hind leg and is currently being treated. Let me know in advance when you plan to come. However, don't take too long."

Professor Bai, busy as always, spoke briefly then hung up.

Back at the rescue station, lunch had just been served. Chen Ying grabbed a few bites and mentioned his upcoming business trip to Duanmu.

"No problem, Xiao Song is coming back the day after tomorrow, and we have enough manpower here. Go do what you need to, Brother Ying, we'll call you if anything comes up."

The junior who had come to help needed to return to school for a while, but his exemption from exams was almost guaranteed this year, so he could regularly come to support the rescue station in the future.

Carrying a backpack full of food, he returned to the emergency unit and found that Old Gao and his team had already left.

"How come they left so soon? Weren't they supposed to stay for two more days?"

"They received a message from Gula Gully. The drone monitoring detected several abandoned bird nests near the rainbow pheasant's habitat, with unhatched eggs still inside. They have already sent someone up the mountain to check. When Old Gao heard about it, he couldn't sit still and left at dawn with his juniors."

Little Sen clicked his tongue, "Speaking of which, their bird watching is a bit more miserable. In a while, they'll still have to huddle in the mountains in ice and snow, which is tough."

Chen Ying stayed silent; every profession has its difficulties, but most are simply endured in silence.

He mentioned his upcoming business trip, asking Little Sen to keep an eye on the surroundings.

"If you're scared being alone, ask Little Deng to stay with you."

Duanmu would certainly accompany Xiao Song, Uncle Zhao and Uncle Yi didn't have much to talk about with him or know much about technology, but Little Deng was young, lively, and good-natured, so the two of them together wouldn't feel bored.

"Or after the animals at the rescue station have been released back to the wild, consider moving Baby Bear over, just stay in the old Mendun'er's yard. No need to worry about its mother and Great Bai; they won't hurt anyone."

After discussing the panda family, Chen Ying looked up at Jinya's cat nest.

How many days has it been since I last saw Jinya? Has the lynx fallen in love with the wild and decided not to come back?

And Little Gold, too, hasn't returned?

"Little Gold came back this morning, took a look around, and left again."

Little Sen saw Chen Ying looking at the cat nest and quickly reported, "Besides Little Jin, the Little Golden Cat also came, and it looks much better than before, but it's timid, completely lacking the domineering presence of Little Jin."

"There's also the Large Spirit Cat family, they have been going out more often lately, only returning at noon to sleep."

Little Sen scratched his head, feeling that the growth rate of the Large Spirit Cat cubs might be a bit too fast.

Speak of the devil.

Chen Ying had just turned to the side of the Large Spirit Cat family's nest, and before he could bend down to see if it needed tidying up, he saw a bunch of little cannonballs rushing out from the woods.

The leader had a squirrel in its mouth, its eyes shining like the stars in the sky.

"What are you guys doing running around and not sleeping?"

Dodging the little cannonballs, Chen Ying took a serious look—all four cubs were present.

The Little Spotted Forest Weasel hadn't caught a squirrel and was almost crying.

With its short cat legs, it couldn't outrun its brothers and stumbled along, a bit disheveled.

The second one looked back at the sobbing Little Spotted Forest Weasel, slowed down, and ran shoulder to shoulder with it, even letting it bite the tail of its prey, indicating they caught it together.

The Little Spotted Forest Weasel instantly came back to life, its eyes relaxed, and its steps lightened.

Instead, it was the third one who, seeing the second one's actions, grumbled and tried to squeeze between them, also pushing its prey towards the mouth of the Banded Palm Civet.

"Sister, bite mine."

Unfortunately, as soon as it spoke, the squirrel fell to the ground.

The third one froze completely, looked down, then up, and annoyed, grabbed its prey in its mouth and dashed forward.

The squirrels the cubs brought back were not very big, clearly a nest of just-grown juvenile squirrels.

And following them, Cat Mother also had a mouse in her mouth, proving Chen Ying's guess correct.

The poor squirrel family was wiped out by the Large Spirit Cat family.

The natural food chain, Chen Ying would not interfere.

He tacitly stepped back, cleared the space, and facilitated the Large Spirit Cat cubs to practice tearing their prey.

This was the Large Spirit Cat Mother's teaching time, humans should not interfere.

Still a little worried about Little Jin.

Chen Ying told Little Sen before preparing to go to the area where Little Jin often stayed.

Not far off, even before reaching the tree hole where Little Jin often stayed, he found Little Jin lying on a tree, daydreaming.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Chen Ying walked over and stood under the tree, looking up at it.

Little Jin had seen Chen Ying coming, and once he stood still, it jumped down from the tree, nuzzling his leg like a tame house cat.

"Meow-ow, I want to go find Jinya, but this little cub can't yet survive on its own, it seems unsuitable for this forest."

Little Jin looked puzzled at another cub deep asleep in a different tree.

It couldn't understand why there could be a cub of its kind so foolish; so big already, yet still bumping into trees while hunting.

Moreover, it wasn't agile, often falling when jumping from trees.

Several times it was only its timely catch that prevented injuries.

When Jinya was with it caring for the cubs before, it hadn't really noticed any problems, but now living alone caring for the cub, it realized how hard cat life was!

Chen Ying was initially smiling as he listened to Little Jin's complaints, but as he listened more, something seemed not quite right.

The situations described by Little Jin—didn't they seem like the cub might have some developmental issues with its little brain?

Should he take it back for a thorough check?

Could it be a cub abandoned by its mother due to innate deficiencies?