After arriving at the exhibit where the mother Leopard lived, the park’s Veterinarian was already examining her.
Seeing Chen Ying approaching, the mother Leopard gave a low call, curled her tail around his wrist, and rested her chin on his hand.
"She has a bit of a fever, suspect she might have caught a cold."
"How could she catch a cold? She hasn’t been outside, the exhibit is always kept at a constant temperature and has a ventilation system."
The Keeper’s eyes were red with anxiety, but the Veterinarian was helpless too. The symptoms he diagnosed were indeed of a cold, but as for how it happened, how was he to know?
After a blood test confirmed there was no viral infection, it brought some relief to everyone.
The mother Leopard probably felt uncomfortable too, tossing and turning in the nest arranged for her, whimpering.
Chen Ying simply opened the isolation door between her cage and the arm observation room, set up an army cot against the wall, and next to it, he made a simple ground bed with old cushions and sheets, letting the mother Leopard sleep with him.
Everyone else was extremely nervous, but Chen Ying was not worried at all.
He had gotten used to this when he treated Leopard Sister and Jinya earlier.
Sleeping on the army cot, next to him was the small purring of the Leopard. After carefully reviewing the surveillance, he found that it might have drunk too much cold water.
Checking tonight’s menu, the problem didn’t seem to be with the food. It was likely caused by hormonal changes due to her pregnancy.
However, this incident made Chen Ying realize there was still a bit of a design flaw with the exhibit.
The Northeast is too cold. Although there is always heating in the exhibit, the pool is against the wall, with drainage pipes leading outside. Even though it’s usually sealed, only opened when the pool needs cleaning, the temperature there is much lower than the indoor ambient temperature.
Drinking a small amount of cold water is nothing, but drinking a lot can indeed affect gastrointestinal function.
Some might think in the wild, Leopards only have cold water to drink, so why don’t they catch colds? It depends on the situation. After all, the mother Leopard has been in a stable and comfortable temperature for a long time, suddenly ingesting too much cold water is surely uncomfortable.
If she were always in the wild, adapted to that environment, it would be different.
Taking it a step further, if a Leopard in the wild caught a cold, it couldn’t visit a Veterinarian, could it? Either it would endure it on its own, or chew on some herbs it found. Otherwise, do you think wild animals that die prematurely were all hunted?
Two days later, the mother Leopard returned to normal, and Chen Ying moved back to his dormitory to rest.
After dinner, his hostel mates suggested going to the recreation room to watch a movie, so Chen Ying tagged along to join the fun.
While waiting for the equipment to be set up, a young man living next door to him suddenly shouted while holding his phone.
"Hey hey, the sentencing results for those poachers are out."
Everyone’s eyes turned to him, and two of them, acting fast, lunged over to grab his phone to see.
"Why so hasty, I’ll read it to you guys."
Chen Ying also paid attention; among the seven people, the two who injured the Black Bear and killed the Roe deer received sentences of three years and five months, and four and a half years respectively. The other individuals received sentences of more than one year and less than three years, depending on their involvement, and everyone was fined.
"Serves them right, they should be sentenced . These guys are so awful, just playing with guns for realism, hurting wild animals. If they like shooting so much, why don’t they shoot themselves."
After listening to them finish reading, Chen Ying slowly exhaled a long-held breath, feeling much lighter.