Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

As the main leader of the research team, Chen Ying communicated with Dao Meihua's cousin and assigned the task of investigation to the local epidemic prevention and forestry management station. They would continue the stakeout for three more days, and if no discovery was made, infrared cameras would be left and the personnel would all withdraw.

The next step might be to go to the neighboring country's conservation station to continue searching for traces of the fishing cat.

It's a coincidence that the joint project at the base included ASEAN countries like Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, but did not involve Laos, which borders Mengla. Yet, the main area of activity for Chen Ying and his team this time happens to be the less favored border area between Mengla and Laos.

Chen Ying is unclear about how negotiations at higher levels were conducted. He only knows that when the Dao family negotiated with Laos, the other side simply reviewed the qualifications of the research team and agreed.

Chen Ying was not directly involved in these arrangements; he just needed to know whether the outcomes were favorable or not.

Apart from handling miscellaneous tasks, the rest of the team has dedicated personnel to deal with handovers, leaving Chen Ying free to plan a visit to see the pitiable mother and child.

Yunyun is sleeping in the shade, while her babies are curled up into a large bundle of fur, also fast asleep.

Looking through the window, the condition of the mother fishing cat has improved significantly; her once messy fur due to illness and poor mental state is now much smoother.

She is lying on her side, exposing her belly, with the little cub snuggled on her tummy, mouth clasped, eyes shut, eagerly sucking for a couple of times before dozing off. Whenever he feels like falling off, he quickly grabs on, continuing the cycle endlessly.

Chen Ying sterilized his clothes, put on protective gear and gloves, entered the cat's nest, and picked up the little cub to carefully observe the abnormally developed ends of its forelimbs.

Although the mother cat was dozing, she woke up the moment Chen Ying entered. Recognizing it was him, she yawned, changed position, and continued to sleep soundly.

The little cub's belly was full and round. Apart from the two fleshy bud-like forelimbs, he appeared robust and adorable.

Chen Ying carefully examined the ends of the little cub's limbs, noticing some skin abrasions. It seemed the little cub instinctively used the ends of its limbs to support its body during daily activities, causing friction against hard, coarse surfaces like the ground or walls.

This situation is not ideal, as frequent friction could damage the skin on the limb ends. There are no normal skin layers here, not even fur, just two naked fleshy buds, with a superficial layer of skin covering the bone inside.

If the skin breaks and is not promptly treated, it could eventually wear down the bone, leading to other complications which would severely impact the little cub's health.

Taking out his phone, Chen Ying photographed the limb ends and the little cub's entire body more than twenty times, capturing clear details, and then he packed these photos and videos into an email.

The recipient of this email is someone Chen Ying met while studying for his PhD in Nordic countries. He is also a veterinarian, but specializes in practical application research in custom assistive tools for disabled animals, including 3D printing prosthetics for missing limbs in animals.

Although there are institutions dedicated to 3D printing of pet prosthetics domestically, the task of printing a prosthetic for a wild fishing cat in its growth phase, and helping it constantly adjust, adapt, and use the prosthetic during growth, is not something ordinary institutions can handle.

Another crucial factor is that current 3D-printed prosthetics typically require certain bones as support points, while the little cub's forelimbs are bud-like. Even if there are undeveloped bones, they may not serve as support points.

Thus, figuring out how to create this prosthetic and what method to use for support is the most challenging problem.