Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

Seeing the two-legged beast of his own family, Little Altai rushed over fiercely, pinning the skinny Aleksey to the ground and rubbing against him.

The people around seemed unfazed, and even took out their phones to snap several photos, with Kelas sneaking a couple too.

After some affectionate exchange, Aleksey invited the two to stay at his small farm for a couple of days, also planning to ask Chen Ying for a favor.

"I had someone look into Chen's situation, hoping I didn't offend you." Aleksey straightforwardly told Chen Ying that he had gone to dig into his background, and then explained what he needed help with.

"I heard you have deep knowledge of snow leopards, and it just so happens that there's a snow leopard here exhibiting some abnormal behavior lately. Could I ask for your help to take a look?"

They were all animal experts and wilderness survival specialists, certainly not as knowledgeable in veterinary science as professionals.

"It's a mother leopard. Her cubs were separated from her last year. We thought she would give birth to a new litter of little snow leopards this year, but later found she showed no signs of estrus."

Aleksey's friend drove in front to lead the way, while he got into Chen Ying's car, making the most of the time to introduce the situation of the snow leopard during the journey.

"Last week I received news from nearby herders that the snow leopard broke into their farm, killed three lambs but didn't eat them, instead dragging one away and hanging it on a tree."

Kelas drove while Chen Ying took a look at Aleksey's phone. There were several consecutive photos showing the mother snow leopard and the three lambs she killed, followed by the snow leopard dragging a lamb away and hanging it on a branch growing out of rock.

It was not yet peak season for snow leopard cubs, so it's uncertain whether the mother snow leopard was genuinely not seeking a mate.

However, snow leopards generally don't engage in dangerous actions during pregnancy. They try to catch enough food to eat themselves fat in preparation for the difficult period of nursing cubs.

Chen Ying pondered for a while and felt that the mother leopard's behavior wasn't aimless, rather it seemed like she was luring other animals over.

Asked Aleksey, who also didn't know—after all, he hadn't found the leopard yet.

"We encountered a brown bear during the path to find that mother leopard. From the small farm, it's a long journey along the mountain ridge to reach the mother leopard's territory."

Part of the middle section is within our country's borders, so Chen Ying directly asked around about the situation nearby.

"Brother Ying, boss, I know this place."

Unexpectedly, it was Ji Xin who sent him a private message first.

"Brother Ying, I stayed around here for two months previously, wanting to take some photos. Later I encountered a wolf pack and had to escape with all efforts. But there are plenty of animals there, including snow leopards, some with cubs. Just as I left at the end of last year, I think a just-grown snow leopard was encircled and killed by the wolf pack. At that time, I was hastily running away and didn't dare stay too long."

Along with the private message, there were two rather blurry photos.

(Doesn't it feel like a wolf in snow leopard skin?)

The first thought Chen Ying had upon seeing the photo was that this young snow leopard might be the son of that mother leopard?

Just left home, and hadn't had a chance to roam the world before falling prey to wolves. If he were the mother leopard, he'd certainly go mad.

If his guess were correct, the mother leopard's actions would be explained. She was likely trying to lure the wolf pack over, using human hands to avenge her son.

Chen Ying didn't know whether his speculation was correct, and cautiously told Aleksey, who remained silent until arriving at the small farm.

This farm was indeed small, without raising much livestock.

"The previous farm owner was taken away by his children after aging, and I just took over this place. The cows and horses kept before were dealt with, only leaving twenty-something sheep."

Since he wasn't specializing in agriculture, Aleksey hired a father and son to manage the farm for him.

In front of the snow, stood a three-story small wooden house, typical Kazakh style.

"Herders used to live in tents, but there are also fixed houses. This wooden house was renovated and rebuilt on the original foundation after I took over. The three old wooden rooms by the side were left by the former farmer, the father and son managing the farm live in two rooms, with the remaining room being used as a warehouse."

After entering the house, the warmth of the fireplace dispelled the chill from the mountain wind. On the table lay a large plate of roasted biscuits and a pot of hot soup kept warm on the stove.

The food was prepared by the father and son, having made preparations after receiving the notification in advance. They were already busy on the farm at this time.

Little Altai and Meidi didn't enter the house, they headed to Little Altai's shed.

Aleksey took the photos and asked a few friends, and indeed, managed to glean some information.

"Our side also borders Russia, and just received the news that last winter, the Russian protective personnel rescued a dying snow leopard in the Altai Mountains region."

Currently, that's the only information, and everyone is unsure whether it's the poor snow leopard youngster.

After all, the Altai Mountains are vast, with more than one snow leopard, and the wolf packs are more numerous. If they recognized the wrong relative, the mother leopard would surely scratch their faces.

From Hu'er Guosi to the small farm, it took five to six hours. To reach the area bordering the Altai Mountains and the Russian side, it's another seven to eight hours.

Of course, this is the distance via human passage roads, but to wild animals, a mere few hundred kilometers is just a blink. ┓(´∀`)┏, after all, they take shortcuts.