After looking at the map for a long time, he could only gaze at it a bit longer.
"I can't figure it out, just can't make sense of it."
Chen Ying's brows were tightly furrowed, while Little Sen next to him had scratched his short hair into a bird's nest.
Dr. Gao had given up long ago, he said with the time they were wasting, he could have dug out two more bird nests and installed three cameras.
Geographically speaking, it's true that the western part of Dian Province and the southeast of Tibet bordered Sichuan Province, so it wouldn't be strange for a Bengal Tiger to come from there.
But a few centimeters on the map could easily translate into thousands of kilometers in reality, right?
A tiger running thousands of kilometers to find a mate, what kind of joke is that?
Fortunately, it wasn't his problem to research.
It was tough on the group of experts and scholars who studied tigers. Though, from another perspective, they could easily draft several papers on this.
As long as they were quick, graduation wouldn't be a worry.
Nothing in the world is difficult for one who gives up. Chen Ying and Little Sen decisively gave up on pursuing this issue and turned to research from which direction the panda mother and child had encountered the tiger.
Brother Monkey had made contact. His whole troop had moved to a slightly more southern location where the climate was much warmer, with delicious fruits to eat.
Brother Monkey said he heard from his troop that in the northeast of Huaqiu Valley, some monkeys had seen the two pandas.
Why so certain? That was because the shape of the panda cub's back strap was too unique, like it was wearing a pair of overalls. Plus, it had a beautiful puffy skirt, and monkeys who had seen it said it looked pretty.
"Brother Ying, the cub's wound on its back seems a little infected."
While cleaning the cub's fur and feeding it, Little Sen noticed that near the shoulder behind its right ear, there was a scratch that was inflamed.
"The other wounds are healing, but this one seems to have become infected."
Chen Ying picked up the little one and re-applied the medicine, then he noticed that the cub instinctively lifted its paw to the spot, quickly scraping off the freshly applied medication.
"What do we do now?" Little Sen was in a panic, "Should we wrap it up?"
"No, the little one won't tolerate that."
They would have to manually immobilize it.
After reapplying the medication, one would have to hold the cub until the medication dried and formed a film, preventing it from rubbing it off, and then let it move freely.
But by doing that, the person taking care of it couldn't do anything else.
Previously, the staff at the protection center had also offered to take the cub to their place, but Chen Ying felt that he could handle the cub's injuries, and he had Jiaojiao willing to learn with the cub. Compared to the center's captive breeding, his setup was more suitable for wild cubs to grow up in.
The center agreed with his idea and also approved to let the cub be fostered with him for the time being.
But all that was based on the premise that the cub's condition was stable and improving.
If the cub's wounds got worse, this was a responsibility Chen Ying couldn't shoulder all by himself.
"Brother Ying, leave this to me. I can take good care of the cub," Little Sen decided, the worst that could happen is a little less sleep.
Anyway, one sleeps long enough after they die, why bother sleeping too much when alive!
Old Gao, who was listening to their conversation, volunteered that he could help too.
Although he only knew how to raise birds, preparing bamboo, cleaning up poop, and mixing milk for a panda cub, those basic tasks were something he could handle.
"Okay, let's leave it at that for now. I'll change its dressings in the morning and afternoon, while Little Sen will watch over it."
Chen Ying also wanted to spend more time wandering in the woods.
After just one outing, he had found two injured pandas, and he didn't know whether to consider it luck or misfortune.
Forest patrols had been intensified, including those at other protection stations, all of which had been asked to expand their patrol areas within their capabilities, for fear that other protected animals might die unnoticed from serious injuries.
It was the beginning of December, and a heavy snowfall had continued for three days and nights.
Even the woods were covered with a layer of snow.
Chen Ying didn't go out anymore but sent out drones to patrol at fixed times in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
Two weeks ago, after confirming that Duoduo and the she-wolf's pups had all survived, the mysterious system, which had gone off to freelance God knows where, popped up and dropped an encyclopedia of flora and fauna for him, then disappeared again.
Actually, this wasn't too bad. With medical knowledge, prescriptions, and biological data, Chen Ying could carve out a niche for himself in the global conservation circle if he fully mastered these three areas.
Taking advantage of the recent calm, he had sorted out several more prescriptions.
There were both Chinese and Western medications, all arranged for his teacher to handle.
After all, professional work should be left to professionals.
As of now, he had already received three dividends, amounting to a significant sum. With a bit more effort, he could earn back the cost of a forest emergency aid station before the New Year.
He had no plans to further expand the area of the aid station, as the forest didn't require overly complex buildings.
With the money, he planned to lease a piece of land in Xiaozhai Village in the name of personal investment to build a temporary animal shelter, and hire two full-time veterinarians to run it.
This idea popped into Chen Ying's mind during a recent visit by Cadre Xiao Qin, who had come to chat with them.
Jiamu Town's veterinary station was in the town center, and because it was very close to the rescue center, it had nearly been reduced to only providing the two basic functions of vaccinating and inspecting animals and poultry.
If Xiaozhai Village were to develop its tourist economy, it would inevitably have to interact with animals. The newly built private temporary rescue and shelter station would not be open for public visits, but they could consider building a glass wall facing the forest direction.
Then, a little farther away, they could construct a greenway around the village, from which people could observe the small animals housed in the shelter from a distance.
A shelter , however, couldn't house rescued wild animals for long periods.
Those with serious injuries had to be sent to a higher-level rescue center for treatment, and those with minor injuries would also have to be released within three to five days.
This would prevent the manipulation of rescue channels to subtly establish zoos.
The main veterinarian could be appointed by the Forest and Grassland Bureau Protection Department, and Xiaozhai Village would need to sign some sort of commitment agreement.
He only had a preliminary idea; whether it could be realized and how the terms should be set up would still need to be decided by the higher-ups.
Only if the villagers of Xiaozhai could see hope in their livelihoods, would they avoid taking desperate measures to gain ill-gotten rewards from the forest.
He wrote down his ideas, planning to discuss them with Old Gao later.
They would have to make use of this hidden sage, not let him sit around bird-watching all day.
Dr. Gao, in a cheerful mood, had no idea that downstairs, Sucker was plotting to "scheme" against him.
This morning, the White-collared Kingfisher couple ventured on their first trial flights with their young, and the results were quite good. Although the chicks hadn't flown far before returning to their nests, each little one was plump and sported the beginnings of a spiky haircut. Their ability to fly such a distance in the snowfall was simply wonderful!
Dr. Gao even found a way to connect their two nest houses, creating a small platform in the middle and placing the chicks' favorite food on it.
Watching each little fluffy Marble jump around happily eating, the uncle-like smile never left his face.
When dinner time came and Dr. Gao heard that Chen Ying wanted to talk to him, he agreed without a second thought.