Chapter 25 Clouded Leopard
It is a relatively tall patch of thatch, with serrated thorns on the edges of the long thatch.
Zhao Yeqing gently pushed aside the grass with his hands and was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground.
Lying in the grass was a leopard that was nearly one meter tall and had light yellow fur with cloud-like patterns.
Before turning around and running, Zhao Yeqing noticed the bloody wound on the leopard's body. Its beautiful fur was cut and the bones were visible.
The most fatal thing was the two bloody holes in the front of the chest, which might have been caused by puncturing the lungs. At this time, the body had almost stopped moving.
And under this leopard was the source of the roar just now.
They were two leopard cubs. It seemed that their mother had died not long after they were born.
Zhao Yeqing picked up a wooden stick from the side and boldly touched the mother leopard's body. It felt soft but there was no reaction.
Obviously deceased.
Zhao Yeqing found a cub under the mother leopard, half of it stuck inside her body. It had not been born yet. She reached out to touch it and found that its body was already cold.
Zhao Yeqing couldn't stand this kind of scene the most. This was probably a mother leopard that used her last bit of strength to give birth to two cubs, but in the end she couldn't hold on halfway through giving birth and died.
It didn't even have time to lick the amniotic fluid and afterbirth off its baby.
Zhao Yeqing's eyes were red. She took off the waterproof mountaineering suit she was wearing, took off the pure cotton base layer inside, and wrapped the two little cubs who were crying in a baby voice and shivering from the cold.
The wounds on the female leopard's body were probably caused by a wild boar, with her chest pierced by its tusks. If she had not been close to giving birth, she would have been unable to defeat the boar and would have been able to run away, and would not have died.
The wound on the female leopard's body was quite fatal, but there was no wild boar around, so it was estimated that the wild boar was seriously injured, so it ran away, but it is not ruled out that it will come back soon.
Zhao Yeqing carried the two cubs and hurried down the mountain, fearing that the cries of the two little guys would attract wild boars.
When I returned home with the two cubs, I noticed that the chickens and geese had retreated and were hiding in the corner, not coming forward to beg for food.
The two cubs still had their placenta still on, but they had kicked it open a little while struggling inside. Zhao Yeqing carried them to the fire.
Gently remove the afterbirth and wipe off the amniotic fluid on their bodies with cotton cloth.
The two little cubs had their eyes closed and had not opened them yet. Perhaps because they were close to the fire, their bodies were warmed up, and their cries gradually subsided.
Before, she was only worried about encountering wild animals on the road, but now that she had returned home and settled these two animals, she felt at a loss as to what to do.
The two little things were soft, as if they had no bones, and their pink mouths opened and closed.
Zhao Yeqing: Can anyone tell me how to raise a leopard?
She found the information, recalled the female leopard's fur color, and looked through the information.
It wasn't hard to find. I saw a high-definition picture just after turning two pages. It had the same fur color as the female leopard, and it was marked in large font next to it:
The clouded leopard is a mammal of the genus Panthera, family Felidae, order Carnivora, and is a first-class protected animal in China.
....
Clouded leopards go into heat every winter and give birth in the spring and summer of the following year, with an average of 2-4 cubs per litter.
Zhao Yeqing read the information carefully, but did not find any information about how to raise clouded leopards. Well, how could there be any information?
She squatted beside the sleeping cub, her chin on her knees, staring blankly.
Leopards are felines, so it should be similar to raising a cat...right?
The little leopards' fur is yellow and black, and the pattern is not very obvious. Only darker lines can be seen. They look like two little tabby cats.
Just as I was watching intently, one of them started to cry out in a sticky, baby-like voice, and the other one was woken up and started to cry out too.
Zhao Yeqing was at a loss as to what was going on. When he saw the little mouth opening and closing, he suddenly realized that it was probably because of hunger.
Normally cubs are given breast milk when they are born, so she ignored it.
When the little leopard was born, the amniotic fluid and the afterbirth were still in its body, so it definitely had never had any milk, but there was no baby milk powder or pet milk powder on hand.
Milk is definitely not an option now. The kittens have weak spleens and stomachs. The cat Kong Sisi raised before died when giving birth, leaving behind a litter of kittens. The doctor at the pet hospital said that they cannot be fed milk, but goat milk.
Where can she find goat milk for these two little guys?
She searched through the supplies that had been unloaded from the truck earlier. There were several boxes of milk, but no goat milk or milk powder.
Zhao Yeqing found a box of Shuhua milk among the milk, opened it, took out a bottle and looked at the ingredient list. It was said that cats were lactose intolerant, and Shuhua milk did not contain lactose, so he wondered if it was ok.
The calling voice became louder and louder, as if urging Zhao Yeqing.
This is the only solution. We can't go hungry all the time.
Zhao Yeqing poured out some milk, put it on the fire to warm it for a while, picked up a few drops with a straw to test the temperature, and after making sure it was the right temperature, he sucked up half of the tube with the straw and fed it into the little leopard's mouth.
He really had no experience, and when he started feeding her the liquid kept dripping from her mouth. Zhao Yeqing had to feed her and wipe it at the same time, which made him very busy.
With experience, the little leopards finally drank milk successfully. Both of them were fed four or five milliliters. She remembered that at the pet hospital, the doctor fed them with a syringe, and it seemed that only three to five milliliters were fed at a time.
The two little guys drank their fill and fell asleep again with a smacking of their lips.
Zhao Yeqing finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the chair.
This is really no easier than working.
The place where the two cubs slept was a makeshift nest she made by padding a bamboo basket with her own pure cotton clothes. The open space did not provide good insulation, and it would probably be cold without a fire nearby.
Zhao Yeqing prepared to make a small nest for them.
She is not very good at handicrafts, so the quickest and most convenient way is to DIY one using a cardboard box.
The old bedding at home was no longer usable, but she didn't throw it away. She bought new ones when she came back, and the old ones now come in handy.
I put the washed old sheets and quilts in the sun for an afternoon.
She found a large cardboard box, opened it, and sewed cotton wool and old sheets together to make a square mat to put underneath. She also cut a hole in the front of the box for easy entry and exit.
It is said that cats are picky and will not live in a nest they don’t like. I wonder if leopards from the same family are also very picky.
Zhao Yeqing looked at the cat bed...leopard bed she made and felt that it was indeed a bit simple. She wanted to cover the box with cotton wool when she moved in, but the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and she was worried that it would be uncomfortable to stay in it.
Let's leave it like this for now, and we'll make something better when conditions permit.
I wrapped the two cubs in the pure cotton clothes and put them in the box. I used my hands to gently straighten out the wrinkles on the clothes under them, and I was caught off guard by four little paws holding my fingers.
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