Chapter 115 Qinling Giant Panda (I)
The backbone of the country, the Qinling Mountains... forget it, I’m too lazy to introduce it a second time.
In early autumn, the Qinling Mountains are still lush and green and full of vitality.
In the clear weather after the rain, animals in the forest came out of their nests to look for food.
At an altitude of about 2,000 meters, Yu Yiyun poked his round head out of a tree hole covered with weeds.
[Your little cutie suddenly appears.gif]
The reason why he appeared here was certainly not because he flew here by himself due to his poor sense of direction that was given to him by heaven and had his brain gnawed by God.
After witnessing the love story of Crow and Crow Boss come to fruition, the little fat bird was very satisfied and flapped its wings and left Yellowstone Park.
With the help of road signs along the way and the position of the sun, the directionally challenged Jiujiu miraculously flew back to Alaska.
Spring in Alaska is still lively. Bald eagles that have successfully courted have begun to build nests, incubate eggs, and breed offspring together.
Once the parent birds abandon the nest, many idle sub-adult sea eagles will pick up leftovers everywhere and experience the daily life of married life in advance.
The two chicks that Little Feichu had hatched himself, now fully grown, have also joined the ranks of 'picking up bargains'.
They took turns sitting on the nest in an orderly manner and seemed to have more experience than the rigid and mature great bald eagle.
Spring is the peak tourist season in Alaska. Tourists from all over the world noticed the two little birds hatching and curiously asked them what kind of birds they were.
The tour guide said, "That's a young bald eagle. It's still very young. It will take three years for it to molt and become the familiar look."
"Oh, a bald eagle? That's incredible."
"Why are they hatching eggs when they are not mature?"
Tour guide: "Regarding this, experts believe that the baby bird may have contracted cognitive impairment, so the other baby birds also started to follow suit and hatch eggs..."
"Those two sea eagles look so sweet, are they a couple?"
"They were hatched from the same nest, so they should be brother and sister, right?"
"You missed class. Although they were hatched from the same nest, they are not related. Those two eggs were snatched away by the black glutinous rice dumpling."
"Hahaha, a true robber bird."
"So they can be husband and wife? Childhood sweethearts sent from heaven, I'm so happy~"
"Don't think about everything!"
Yu Yiyun circled the beach and the Douglas fir forest for a long time, but didn't find any eggs to steal, so she flew to the parent bird's nest out of boredom.
History is always like the repetition of startled birds, and then it is the turn of the male eagle to sit on the nest.
After experiencing the beating last year, the naive and innocent younger boy finally grew up with wisdom.
He guarded the bird eggs tightly to prevent the cubs from getting any chance.
Yu Yiyun had no intention of stealing the eggs, but when she saw her own father was so nervous, her evil taste suddenly exploded.
Use bait and noise to lure the male eagle away from the nest, and then happily crawl in.
The male eagle circled around and returned home, only to find that the bird's nest had been completely occupied, and the bird was frightened out of its wits.
"oyi?" How could you do this to your dad?
"oyi!" Bad bird!
Yu Yiyun almost laughed to death.
The dad, who didn't have much experience in bird life, was a little smart, but not much.
Fortunately, the little fat bird is not a devil after all. He took the initiative to return the bird's nest to his father before his mother came back to prevent him from being abused again.
However, the mother bird had too much experience in bird life, and she was able to tell from the smell and remaining feathers that another bird had been in the nest.
"Oh hey!" Stupid eagle!
"Oh my!" I've told you so many times not to let other eagles approach the bird's nest, especially yours!
"Oh hey hey!" What should I do if my eggs are stolen by him again? !
"Oyi..."
The male eagle cried weakly, expressing his grievance as much as he could.
In fact, Yu Yiyun had no plans to hatch eggs this year.
How hard it is to hatch eggs~
During the entire incubation period, they must stay in the nest all the time. No wonder the little guy always says "use the children to tie the mother up."
For birds, the incubation period is roughly equivalent to a natural barrier that does not require magic circles or spells, and is more effective than the circle that Sun Wukong drew for Tang Seng.
The fat little bird was happy and relaxed, catching fish and birds every day, and teasing the little sea otters in the kelp every now and then.
When the ocean whales swam over after the sea lions, Yu Yijun happily flew over to greet the old whales and played the "fountain whack-a-mole" game with their blowholes.
On a leisurely afternoon, Yu Yiyun stopped on a branch and felt a familiar drowsiness.
When I opened my eyes again, everything around me was white, and I almost thought I was back in the egg.
[Congratulations on learning the skills to survive independently. Mission accomplished.]
"Huh?"
It was not until this moment that Yu Yiyun realized that "independence" actually meant surviving independently, rather than letting herself, a bird, live the rest of her life alone.
[but--]
The prolonged tone of the Voice of the World represents a turning point.
[Since the completion rate of this mission is relatively average, you will not receive any preferential treatment before the next mission begins.]
"Ah? Blame me?"
Yu Yiyun was so angry that she immediately protested.
"It's obviously your fault for assigning the task!"
[……]
The Voice of the World was silent for a few seconds, then repeated:
[You will not receive any special treatment until the next mission begins.]
"Oh."
Yu Yiyun sneered, squeezing out three words from between his teeth:
"Transfer to manual."
[……]
[……]
The voice of the world has become even silenter.
The silence lasted for two minutes before the Voice of the World spoke again.
[Although there is no preferential treatment, you are very familiar with the next mission location.]
"Qinling?"
Yu Yiyun has unlocked three areas: sea, land and air. The one he is most familiar with is still the Qinling Nature Reserve, where he has devoted his entire life.
The Voice of the World did not deny it and started announcing the mission directly.
It seems that he cares a lot about Yu Yiyun's diss. This time, the assignment was particularly detailed, and even qualifiers were added.
[Sixth mission: Become the most popular individual among all existing individuals of the same kind.]
“You are welcome.”
Yu Yiyun, who will always get the most attention no matter what kind of animal she turns into, said proudly that it's a sure thing!
As long as I use a little trick and act cute, it will be easy to catch those little people~
So——
Yu Yiyun staggered out of the tree hole and first realized that he could not climb very fast and his eyesight was terribly poor.
Yu Yiyun, who was used to the wide field of vision of Eagle Eyes, suddenly became 800 degrees myopic and could not even tell whether the lump on the top of the opposite tree was a bird's nest or poop.
At first, Yu Yiyun thought that he had returned to the eggshell and had not hatched, or that his eyesight had not developed well as a cub.
Only after I climbed out of the tree hole did I realize how huge I was.
Judging from the black six-toed claws, pink pads, and the development of nails and teeth, I can conclude that this baby is at least half a year old.
The eyes of six-month-old cubs are basically fully developed.
In other words, he is destined to be a serious myopic person in this life.
Yu Yiyun: …
I could have tolerated myopia if I had not felt the eagle eye.
Yu Yiyun, who once roamed the sea, land, and air, crisscrossed the five oceans, and dominated the top of every food chain, suddenly turned into an animal with slow movements, blurred vision, and a particularly long cub period. He should have been in tears and doubted his life as an animal.
It just so happened that Yu Yiyun was extremely familiar with the distribution of wild animals in the Qinling Mountains, and he could guess what kind of animal it was even by looking at its claws.
Uh~
He rolled and crawled, and with his relatively sensitive hearing, he caught the sound of gurgling water nearby, and used all four paws to roll and crawl to the side of the stream.
He used his two front paws to support himself on a large rock on the shore, stood up unsteadily, and slowly poked out his round head.
As Yu Yiyun moved, a furry little ball appeared on the water surface.
He is born with dark circles under his eyes, a round face, and two ears on his head. He is so adorable!
Yu Yiyun supported the big rock with his paws and slowly moved forward half a step.
It had just rained on the top of the Qinling Mountains, and the river bank was extremely slippery and wet, just like the day when he first became a cloud.
The current perceived temperature is relatively low, and the hungry cubs, who are only half a year old, are weak.
If the fur gets wet, it will not only affect mobility but also make it easy to catch a cold.
Yu Yiyun tried hard to pull at the big rock with her two front paws, and used the sixth finger at the front of her wrist to cling to the cracks in the rock with all her strength to prevent herself from accidentally falling into the stream.
Steadying himself, Yu Yiyun looked at the water again, letting the stream reflect the entire view.
The black and white fur looks just like sesame-filled rice dumplings.
The wagging tail indicates that the baby is in a good mood.
Question:
If you become the cutest cub on the whole mountain, what troubles will there be in your life as a bear?
--some.
I’m hungry QAQ…
Yu Yiyun dug at the stone and admired the handsome face for five minutes, and finally realized that being cute cannot make a living.
Six-month-old cubs are between weaning and non-weaning, and need to gradually adapt to the transition from breast milk to solid food.
Generally speaking, during this stage, the mother should stay with the cub to provide protection and food.
He raised his super cute face and looked in the direction he came from.
Where is mommy, dear?
There was not even a shadow of a bear on such a huge mountain.
Yu Yiyun sighed helplessly.
Sure enough, I knew it.
If the little bear had the protection of his mother, was carefree and had a smooth childhood, how could he get the chance to enjoy the life of a national treasure?
As early as when Yu Yiyun was a South China tiger, he once tried to lie down and lie down because he was too tired from hunting, and expressed his feeling of "wanting to experience the life of a national treasure".
I never expected that the joke at that time would come true.
After six lifetimes, he really became the giant panda, China's representative animal that has lived in the land of China and reproduced for eight million years.
To be precise, it should be called the Qinling subspecies of giant panda.
After millions of years of reproduction and evolution, there are now only two subspecies of giant pandas.
Compared to the nominate subspecies that is more familiar to humans, that is, the subspecies living in the Sichuan area, the Qinling giant panda has a rounder face and a shorter mouth, and can be called the most beautiful bear in the cat world.
Simply put, the Sichuan subspecies looks more like a 'bear' and the Qinling subspecies looks more like a 'cat'.
Qinling giant pandas usually live in mountain forests at an altitude of about 3,000 meters, because at this altitude, the bamboo on which the giant pandas depend for survival grows lushly and in rich variety.
Giant pandas living in the Qinling Mountains can eat different bamboos and bamboo shoots in different seasons.
However, in the past few hundred years, due to the massive deforestation by humans and the conversion of bamboo forests into farmland, the pandas, which should have been widely distributed from Beijing to the Himalayas, have been divided from their originally continuous habitat into less than 30 isolated areas.
A national bear population census showed that in the early 1980s, the total number of giant pandas in China was less than 1,000.
The Qinling subspecies living in Shaanxi only has 109 individuals. In some isolated habitats, only a single digit number of wild pandas remain.
The minimum number of animals to avoid inbreeding between parents is 500.
People realize that if more effective protection measures are not taken to ensure the genetic diversity of the panda species.
Then in a few decades, the giant panda will repeat the fate of the South China tiger and be declared extinct in the wild.
China's history of protecting giant pandas goes much further than imagined.
In 1958, when China's national strength was not yet developed, the Sichuan Wolong Nature Reserve was established. Since then, 67 giant panda reserves have been set up one after another.
In 2021, China officially established the Giant Panda National Park spanning the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, dedicated to ensuring the genetic diversity of the national treasure.
After the joint efforts of several generations of experts and scholars, the threat level of giant pandas has finally been reduced from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable'.
The problem is that a reduced threat level does not mean that wild giant pandas are not at risk of extinction.
According to the data from the fourth national bear population census, the number of wild giant pandas in Sichuan Province has reached 1,387.
In contrast, there are only 345 giant pandas living in the heart of the Qinling Mountains, which does not even meet the minimum requirement to avoid close isolation.
When Yu Yiyun took over the "Return of the Tigers to the Mountains" rewilding mission, she often empathized with the staff of the Qinling Giant Panda Conservation Organization next door.
Although the South China Tiger Release Experimental Base is not on the same mountain as the Giant Panda Reserve.
But we all live in the Qinling Mountains, and we see each other every day. We often hold exchanges and learn from each other's advanced ideas.
The protection work for both types of "National One" is currently ongoing.
In the middle and late stages of each exchange meeting, it often turns into a place where people complain to each other.
"...Cat, please give birth to more cubs this year, and we will go up to the mountain to plant bamboo for you overnight!"
"Cat, don't you like bamboo? I stole a few bamboo seedlings from the base in Sichuan, which is their favorite food for pandas. I'll plant them for you once they pass the experiment! Plant them full!"
"Last month, my cat's Beidou GPS didn't work for three consecutive days. We were so scared that we thought we had encountered a black bear or a leopard, so we changed into panda costumes and went up the mountain overnight. What happened? He found a tree he liked and hung there in a daze."
"Ah, who has it easier? You still have at least 300 of them. We plan to release 50 South China tigers, and at most 40 will pass the assessment. Up to now, there are only 19 big babies left in the reserve."
"Sister, think positively. Your panda is hanging on the tree, at least nothing happened to it. Our tiger can't move, so he must have been injured in a fight!"
"Professor Yu Yiyun from our team is well-known, right? He was admitted to the university at the age of 15, graduated at the age of 18, took over our project team at the age of 20, and got the title of professor at the age of 24. But what happened? In order to let the tigers catch prey after being rewilded, he, a highly educated man, climbed up the mountain to herd cattle every day, hahahaha!"
"Really? Your Professor Yu looks quite aloof, can he really herd cattle?"
"More than that! Every time Hu Zi gets into a fight, it's Professor Yu who leads the team to charge forward. No matter how fierce Hu Zi is, as long as he rolls up his sleeves, he can anesthetize and subdue the tiger in minutes. Isn't he the modern-day Wu Song?"
"cough."
Yu Yiyun, who was in charge of presiding over the meeting, cleared his throat.
His brown eyes glanced through the lenses at the few people who were gossiping in the meeting openly, and his tone was slightly helpless.
"Can you reveal my dark history without telling the person involved?"
Colleagues from the neighboring team had had enough of the gossip, so they perked up and started discussing again the optimal solution for animal protection in the Qinling Mountains.
Thanks to them, Yu Yiyun's understanding of the panda reserve is second only to the South China Tiger Rewilding Experimental Zone, which is about 100 kilometers away.
At this moment, a sesame-filled glutinous rice ball was clawing at a big rock, taking a last reluctant look at its reflection on the water.
If cuteness could be eaten, he would definitely be the bear with the least worries about food in the entire Qinling Mountains.
There is no "if" in the world. The rolling ball, which is nothing but cute, can only stagger away from the stream and search around the tree hole.
There was no sign of the mother bear around, nor was there any call from the mother bear in the distance.
In terms of breeding habits alone, giant pandas and South China tigers have some similarities.
Pandas are also solitary animals, and adult giant pandas only come into contact with each other during the breeding season.
As we all know, the main reason why wild pandas are on the verge of extinction is the destruction of their habitat.
Secondary reason: reproduction is more difficult.
Even though the panda protection mechanism has become more complete today, captive giant pandas still reproduce through artificial assistance.
The giant panda's estrus period is affected by many factors throughout the year, and spans a wide range from autumn to spring.
But the best time for female giant pandas to conceive is only two days.
A female panda will not accept a male panda unless she deems the time appropriate for bonding.
The male giant panda who smells the scent not only needs to defeat his competitors, but also has to stay around the female at all times, squatting under the tree where she is, waiting for the beautiful bear he likes to accept him.
What if a male bear couldn't stand it and ran off to look for food?
Either they will miss the best breeding period, or they will be picked up by the male bear next door.
After a female giant panda successfully becomes pregnant, the embryo will not develop immediately but will temporarily enter a dormant state.
The mother panda must get enough food so that the embryo in her body can absorb nutrients and begin to grow.
If external conditions are not ideal, the baby will stop growing further.
Therefore, the panda's breeding period ranges from 83-200 days.
The little panda, which was finally born after going through untold hardships, weighs only about 100 grams, about one thousandth of its mother's.
Newborn panda cubs are extremely fragile, their bodies are smaller than mice, and their entire bodies are pink and tender.
The baby needs to be breastfed for six hours a day until he is about nine months old.
Real little bear.
Yu Yiyun, who is only half a year old, theoretically has not reached the stage of complete weaning, let alone the stage of separation from her mother.
Poor weak sesame glutinous rice ball, even though it was alone and helpless, it didn’t dare to whine and act like a cute bear shedding tears.
Yu Yijun is very familiar with the Qinling Mountains!
The mountains are home to top predators such as jackals, black bears, and leopards. Each of them is extremely ferocious and their favorite food is eating cute small animals.
Sesame dumplings look so cute, but if they make any sound, their cuteness will be gone in a flash.
Thinking of this, Yu Yiyun actually felt somewhat fortunate.
Fortunately, the South China tiger in the neighboring experimental area was blocked by the protection gate and could not come over for the time being.
At this moment, Gunguntuanzi finally realized who the protective net was protecting.
As both are first-class national protected animals, if a panda cub encounters a South China tiger, it cannot run away or fight, and can only barely hide in a tree.
Sorry, Zhen'an can climb trees.
It was its claws that taught me the tree-climbing skill.
Yu Yiyun turned his bear face and looked towards the direction of the experimental area next door, without caring whether he had found the right direction or not.
Sesame Tangyuan secretly made a wish: If I meet Hu Hu one day, I hope he will go easy on me because they are both in the same grade and are all cats.
[Bear Prayer.jpg]
Thank God, Yu Yiyun became a panda cub and at least got an advantage he never had before: food is easy to catch.
Pandas have a simple diet and mainly eat more than 20 species of bamboo, including Bashan wood bamboo, Bashan indigo bamboo, light bamboo, and sweet bamboo shoots.
Wild pandas migrate from low altitudes to high altitudes according to the seasons, mainly to obtain bamboo and bamboo shoots at different altitudes.
It is now September, the harvest season.
Although Yu Yiyun couldn't find her mother in the area where she was, there were large tracts of bitter bamboo and bamboo shoots that had just sprouted.
Bitter bamboo is tough and has a high fiber content, and is often used to make umbrella handles and fishing rods.
As humans pay more and more attention to the protection of giant pandas, keepers have discovered that pandas have a special preference for bitter bamboo.
Moreover, bitter bamboo has extremely high medicinal value and can clear away heat, detoxify, clear the heart and improve eyesight.
In the hot summer, keepers will chill the bitter bamboo and feed it to the pandas.
Sesame glutinous rice ball raised his bear face, looked at the bitter bamboo that was taller than himself, and licked his baby teeth.
Just a bamboo.
Wait for me for half a year!
The little dumpling, who was good at adapting to changing circumstances, wisely shifted his gaze and locked his first 'hunting' target in his life on the bamboo shoots that had just broken through the ground after the rain.
Bamboo Shoots: You're bullying me so I can't run away, right?!
Common pandas obtain bamboo shoots, generally known as 'picking'.
Grab the bamboo shoots with your front limbs and claws, and then pull them out easily.
Little Dumpling was at breastfeeding age and his stomach was growling with hunger.
The little strength I have now is far from enough to dig out the autumn bamboo shoots that are growing well after the rain from the soil.
He circled the 40-centimeter-long bamboo shoot counterclockwise and then clockwise.
Use your intelligence and wisdom to choose the angle that is easiest to claw, use both feet to step on the base of the bamboo shoot for support, and hold the top of the bamboo shoot firmly with your palms.
Then he sank his Qi into his Dantian, and used all his strength—
'Plop, plop!'
With the sound of gurgling, the sesame dumplings that were cooked with too much force not only failed to pull out the bamboo shoots.
On the contrary, because the surface of the bamboo shoots was too smooth after being rained on, both its front and hind paws lost strength at the same time, and the whole bear fell backwards due to inertia.
Tuanba Tuanba became a real glutinous rice ball and rolled several times.
The cub has thick fur and is resistant to falls, so rolling a few times is no big deal.
But it had just rained on the top of the Qinling Mountains, and the ground was muddy.
The clumsy little bear rolled down a few times, his whole body covered with dirty mud. He could be thrown to Qin Shihuang as a life-size figurine in no time.
“Woo!”
Yu Yiyun tried to endure it again and again, but she couldn't bear it anymore and let out a wail of grievance.
"Woo!" The bamboo shoots hit the bear!
"Woo woo..." Save the baby QAQ...
After the third howl, a panda head popped out from the depths of the jungle in the distance.
The panda mother, who had smelled the scent of the enemy beast and hid her cub in advance, led the ferocious beast away alone and ran to the tree hole in a hurry.
She blinked her eyes, which were also 800 degrees myopic, looked at the wet yellow earth, and question marks popped up in her head.
I clearly heard the baby crying.
Where is the baby?
“Woo!”
The next second, a yellow ball crawled out from the mud, stumbled towards the panda mother, and cried loudly.
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