Forest protection starts with picking up a lynx girl

Chapter 536 Hello, friends from the south and north
"Before the 19th century, Eurasian lynx also lived here. Although no wild Eurasian lynx were observed in the mid-to-late 20th century, it cannot be said for sure that Eurasian lynx has really become extinct in this area."

Chen Ying chatted with her companions as they walked, and also explained the differences between lynxes.

"The Pyrenees are closer to the habitat of the Iberian lynx, while the Eurasian lynx are more common in the Alps, so we chose this place as the release site for the Iberian lynx in the hope that they can have a wider living environment and improve their previous situation of being trapped in a corner due to territorial fragmentation."

In fact, there was a lot of controversy in the research community about setting up this release point. Some scholars were concerned that releasing Iberian lynx, which do not belong to the Pyrenees Mountains, here would affect the expansion of the Eurasian lynx population.

In addition, the Pyrenees Mountains belong to the historical distribution area of ​​the Eurasian lynx. Although there are no wild populations found now, it is possible that a lynx wants to travel across the border. Once the Eurasian lynx and the Iberian lynx meet on a narrow road, do you think it is better for them to form an alliance or to fight to the death?

Neither of these is the result that scholars want to see.

Now all countries in the world are paying attention to ecology, and animal population recovery is also an important part of ecology, so several European countries are also trying lynx populations. Perhaps in a few decades, we will be able to see wild Eurasian lynx populations in this mountain range.

Another reason is that although the nature conservation in the middle section of the Pyrenees is good, the environment here is not very suitable for the Iberian lynx. After all, this cat with yellow-brown fur with black spots and a weight of no more than 18 kilograms may not be able to adapt to the cold climate of the mountains.

They often live in the peninsula's scrubland and Mediterranean forests, and their main food is European rabbits.

The Eurasian lynx is larger, the heaviest can reach 30 kilograms, and its fur is mainly gray-brown, which is more adapted to the cold forest environment. The alpine forests in the middle of the Pyrenees are very suitable for them.

After nearly four hours of trekking, Chen Ying and his companions found a place to rest and have lunch. They had to spend the night in the wild, so they needed to find a place to stay early, as the Pyrenees would show its cruel side at night.

On cold mornings, the valley was filled with mist, and the steep limestone walls still bore traces of ancient glacial erosion. The lower part of the valley was lined with Mediterranean scrub and mixed fir forests.

The river is rushing and meandering along the stepped riverbed. This river valley is relatively flat, with a gravel beach on the left, which is also a good place for animals to drink water.

Chen Ying and his companions' tent was set up in the depression on the right side of the mountain wall. The area was not large, but was enough to accommodate two single tents and there was also space for outdoor stoves.

After washing with warm water, Chen Ying glanced at his companions who were still resting and decided to go down to the river to take a look.

The bone-chillingly cool river water is so clear that you can even see the patterns on the rocks on the bottom of the water.

Chen Ying noticed that the pattern on a stone looked very similar to the national treasure panda, so he wanted to find it and bring it back to give to his girlfriend.

Just as I pulled the stone up, I looked up suddenly and saw a big cat lying in the woods opposite.

"Martial? Why are you here?"

Chen Ying couldn't hold back her voice. The big cat opposite was silent for a while, then jumped down nimbly and approached Chen Ying.

"Well, Twolegs, why are you here?" Martyr and Chen Ying looked at each other across the river. It even raised its head to look at another tent in the depression of the mountain wall. "Are you here to look for me?"

Chen Ying washed the stone with river water, then wrapped it in a face towel and stuffed it into the waterproof layer of his waist bag.

"Yes, your collar is missing. We are worried that you might have had an accident, so we came to check on you."

Martier tilted his head, looking suddenly enlightened. "Oh, you mean that one. It fell off when I was fighting with a fellow of the same species. Luckily, it fell off and scared the fellow, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to escape so easily."

Chen Ying was stunned when she heard what Martial said, "There's still a lynx here? Is it the one we released before?"

"No, it's not." Martial's eyes wandered. "It's bigger, has more and denser hair, and the color is different from mine."

After saying this, Martial was about to leave. It was obvious that he didn't want to mention this guy anymore. It could be seen that the always proud Martial seemed to have suffered a great loss. He was embarrassed and wanted to hide.

Mathilde came silently and left cleanly. Before Chen Ying could even say a word, he was no longer visible.

Fortunately, he had done some preparatory work last night and placed an infrared camera on a tree by the river, which should have captured the picture of Martial standing by the river.

After his companion woke up, Chen Ying told him that Martier was there, and took him to collect photos and videos of Martier taken by the newly installed camera.

"Since Martier is living well here, we can temporarily shift our target. I guess there should be something nearby that can attract Martier, perhaps food, or a strong male lynx."

Chen Ying looked up at the forest where Martial disappeared. "There should be an animal trail on the opposite mountain. We need to cross this forest to get back to the middle. Why don't we start from here?"

The companion didn't matter. His job was to accompany Chen Ying to collect information and find the released Iberian lynx Martir. Now the most important task had been completed. All he had to do next was stay alert and successfully cross the forest.

It was not easy to cross the mountains and forests. After two days of walking in the wild, they arrived at a narrow wind tunnel on the eastern slope. At this time, there was only a natural stone bridge more than three meters long between the rock walls, and below was a deep ditch more than 20 meters high.

For the two people who have been walking in the wild all year round, crossing the stone bridge is not difficult, but the prerequisite is that there is nothing around that will affect their performance.

Chen Ying was the first to step onto the stone bridge, but after taking two steps he suddenly stopped, made a gesture, and slowly backed away.

The companions behind him made room and looked around vigilantly.

"what happened?"

"There's a fresh, uneaten carcass of a chamois calf up ahead."

"…Does this mean there are ferocious animals around? What do you think it is, a lynx or a brown bear?"

Chen Ying took out the telescope he carried with him and carefully scanned the forest on the opposite side. He found nothing, so he put his hand down, took out his mobile phone, adjusted the focal length to the maximum and took a photo.

If he were on flat ground, he would definitely go over and check it out, but the place he was standing on was very dangerous. If he was not careful, he might fall into the deep ditch and be crippled or even die.

"I learned about this place before coming here. There are basically no large beasts. Brown bears were introduced and then released into the wild. The Iberian lynx's body size does not support them to prey on chamois cubs. Their staple food is hares, and they have no interest in ungulates. But the other lynx is different. Lambs are their favorite delicacy."

His companions were confused by his words and their eyes were dazed.

After about ten seconds, it seemed to have thought of something and let out a strange cry, "No, you mean it might be a Eurasian lynx?"

Fortunately, this person was not so stupid that he could not hear such obvious hints from Chen Ying.

He has been in charge of monitoring work in Zhongduan for three years and has never seen a Eurasian lynx. He can't just say it's because he's unlucky.

So was it good luck to meet him here on the stone bridge? The two of them talked for less than a minute when the sound of a dead branch breaking came from the other side. A Eurasian lynx with gray hair and black spots slowly walked out and stepped into the cracks in the stone to prevent itself from slipping while walking.

Its fur shone silver in the morning light. It stood at the other end of the bridge, slightly raised its lower jaw, revealing the white spots on its throat.

Chen Ying, who has studied lynx behavior patterns, knows that this is the deterrent method lynx usually adopts when dealing with its own kind. Because of their large size, Eurasian lynx like to suppress others with their size in a fight. For example, when the lynx lady galloped on the wilderness of Heyuan and faced Erniu, she also adopted this deterrent method.

Although his Jinya is also a Eurasian lynx, it is smaller than its counterparts living in cold regions. Even so, compared with the Iberian lynx, Jinya is already considered big.

Lynxes living in the warmer areas of the south have reddish-brown fur in the summer, and some lynxes change to gray-brown fur in the winter. In places where the temperature difference is not large, the lynx's fur color does not change much.

This is a very healthy big cat with a somewhat ferocious but calm temperament.

Chen Ying was attracted by its beautiful appearance, and for a moment she even felt that her own Jin Ya was a good match for it.

Bah, bah, bah, don’t think too much, Xiao Jin is also very good!
Chen Ying turned his gaze away from the beautiful lynx with a bit of regret, looked at his companion, raised his eyebrows, and asked with his eyes what to do next.

It is different in foreign countries than in China. In the wild, monitoring personnel have received formal training and know better how to treat wild animals without violating regulations.

Before his companions could say anything, Chen Ying's eyes changed again.

"Oh my god, Martial is here."

The companion followed Chen Ying's gaze and saw that on the rock behind them, the handsome and strong Martial was looking down at the giant lynx across the stone bridge.

During the confrontation, the hair on Martyr's neck exploded, and the white spots on his neck stood up like a pair of "false eyes". He nimbly jumped along the rock wall and came to Chen Ying's side, lowering his head and neck slightly, revealing his canine teeth.

The Eurasian lynx opposite, which was almost half its size, also lowered its body and made an indescribable snoring sound from its throat, as if conveying some threatening words to Martial.

Suddenly, the Eurasian lynx slapped its paw to shatter the already loose rubble. With a loud bang, Martial's pupils suddenly shrank and he took a step back.

"Martial, be careful!" As soon as Chen Ying finished speaking, the gray-white lynx leaped over from the bridge, chasing Martial's figure, jumping along the cliff to the bottom of the ditch, and then disappeared from sight.

Chen Ying wanted to follow anxiously, but was stopped by his companion.

"Don't go, you can't catch up with them."

Not to mention whether he could catch up with them, even getting him to the bottom of the ditch safely would require the help of a rescue rope. By the time he got down successfully, the two lynxes could no longer smell him.

The companion took a camera to take pictures of the body of the rock antelope calf that was bitten to death, then grabbed Chen Ying and quickly left.

Who knows if the Eurasian lynx will come back for a feast. If they stay any longer, maybe they will become part of the feast.

Only after they were far away from the stone bridge did Chen Ying and his colleagues stop to rest and choose a good camping site.

That's right, the two of them had just discussed it and decided to stay here for two days to see if they could take some video footage of the Eurasian lynx.

Martial was still alive and there were infrared camera photos to prove it, but no one would believe that wild Eurasian lynx roamed here just based on their words.

The reason they were so tired along the way was that they had spent all their energy searching for traces of Eurasian lynx on the road.

The hard work paid off, and they did find some "evidence." But all of it is not as real as a photo of an actual Eurasian lynx.

"We have already deployed three cameras. Do we need to use the remaining two as well?"

Chen Ying bit the tool and adjusted the third camera. He wiped the sweat off his head and put the tool back into the bag. "No need. These three cameras are enough. If there are other discoveries in the next trip, the boss will scold us if we don't have cameras set up."

The companion shrugged, "Okay, I'll go get some food, what do you want?"

Chen Ying patted her waist bag and said, "Just give me a cup of hot water. Instant soup with fried rice tastes pretty good."

The food preferences of Easterners and Westerners are still very different.

This fellow monitor is a typical carnivore. He carries a lot of dried meat in his bag and also likes to drink.

Of course, he would restrain himself and only drink a few sips when he was on guard at night, in order to drive away the cold.

There wasn't much else in the mountains, but caves were definitely enough. And they didn't need a big, luxurious cave, just a cave that could shelter them from the wind and rain and accommodate two single tents would be good enough.

The monitor's fellow monitor was familiar with this mountain. After dinner, he prepared to go out for a while and get some water.

Chen Ying rested for a while, sorted out today's harvest, and was about to go into the tent to take a nap when he heard the panting of animals outside.

He was startled, grabbed the self-defense tools, gently lifted a corner of the tent curtain and looked out.

As soon as I opened it, a cat's head popped in.

"Martial? Are you okay?" Chen Ying quickly unzipped the door curtain and let Martin in.

After a careful inspection, it was confirmed that Martial was intact except for minor scratches.

"You scared me to death today. Didn't that big guy catch up with you?"

"Well, no, but I don't think it planned to chase me. I lost sight of it after running for a while, and I was worried that it would follow you and hurt you, so I followed it here."

Chen Ying was so moved that she hugged Mathil's head and kissed it hard several times. The beautiful Mathil was shy and she gently pressed Chen Ying's face with her furry paws, not allowing him to bury his head in her.

"I came to see you for something. I seem to smell the scent of lightning." Martier's beautiful big eyes flickered, and he spoke with some uncertainty.

(End of this chapter)