Pet King

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Although what Zhang Zian narrated grossly understated the effort of his work, everyone knew that even with the help of a dog, it was still difficult to capture a few fennec foxes. In addition to the bold and careful plan, Lady Luck must have been on his side as well.

Wei Kang did not care about the process of Zhang Zian’s capture. His attention was firmly on the fennec foxes, and he urged the four disciples behind him, “What are you all doing? It is rare that we get to come out to the field. Hurry and start work now!”

The three boys responded in unison and ran back to the car to get their instruments.

He He had never seen this type of work before. She squatted on the side of the cage and gently tapped the wire to tease the cute little foxes. She was fascinated by the small and cute fennec foxes and momentarily forgot her identity as a biological researcher. She really wanted to take them home as pets.

“Be careful with your fingers!” Zhang Zian reminded her.

He He slightly retracted her hand, and just in time, too. A fennec fox fiercely and quickly opened its mouth and bit down. It was the leader of this group of foxes and the strongest one among them.

Fortunately, she retracted her hand with moments to spare. It only bit the wire. The fox kept giving off low growls, warning her not to make any unwise moves.

“It’s so fierce!” She was a little scared, but her love for the foxes was not diminished.. After all, even cats and dogs sometimes bit their master, not to mention little foxes who lived in the wild.

“Teacher, are we going to bring these little foxes back?” she asked Wei Kang joyfully. If she could bring them all back to China, she could definitely attract the envy of her girlfriends.

Wei Kang shook his head. “What are you thinking? We are scientific researchers who come to the field to inspect animals and not to hunt animals. These animals live in the wild and belong in the wild. We will release them back into the wild after we have finished the research.”

He He pouted in disappointment, but she knew that when it came to work, Wei Kang was very stubborn. He would not change his mind once he decided.

Zhang Zian had similar questions. If Wei Kang found the original Egyptian cats, would he catch them and bring them back to China?

Bringing the animal back to China would definitely stir up a lot of sensation, but would it be a good thing for the animal?

Wild animals lived in the wild. If they were raised by humans, they would have a more comfortable living environment. Their life expectancy would also tend to be longer. However, this was unlikely to be favorable to the wild population, especially rare populations, where the loss of one or two animals could cause the species to go extinct entirely.

Real scientific research workers would not give up the forest for their own benefit. What was more, the desert environment was so special that it was difficult for humans to simulate a similar environment for any animals that they hoped to rear.

Bringing wild animals back to an artificially constructed environment was only considered in extremely special circumstances in order to not violate the scientific code of ethics. For example, if it was determined that only one animal was left in the wild, that the population could not naturally multiply, then the animal could be reared by humans.

Zhang Zian’s tent door opened. Fina walked in, giving a huge yawn. She had heard what Wei Kang said and was looking at him with thoughtful eyes.

At this time, the three followers also came back with a bunch of instruments.

Wei Kang solemnly said to Peter Lee, “Mr. Lee, we may have to postpone our departure. This is our work. We will catch up with you as soon as possible after we have finished.”

Peter Lee gently waved his hand. “I said that the whole team is a group, and we are going back together. I am very supportive of your research. This is what we agreed in advance. We will wait for you before leaving. It doesn’t matter if you stay here until the next morning.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Wei Kang nodded and asked his students to start working.

The others soon learned that they had to postpone their departure this morning, so they were no longer in a hurry. Some people went back to their tent to sleep, some leisurely listened to music over breakfast, and others surrounded the team to observe them working.

Wei Kang first photographed the fennec foxes with a camera and a camcorder. Then he took down the location where they were discovered. Following that, he anesthetized them with ketamine. After the anesthetics took effect, he took them out of the cage, laid them flat on the ground, and measured and recorded a series of vital signs. These included body length, body weight, body temperature, and heart rate.

Besides the application of anesthetics, the other things to do were not complicated. After watching the demonstration, Zhang Zian and the other people present also gave a helping hand.

From time to time, Wei Kang guided everyone on what to do and gave suggestions on what they should be noticing. For example, he made everyone wear disposable gloves because the wild animals’ fur may contain parasites such as fleas and may also carry germs. He reminded Zhang Zian not to let Fina and Famous come in contact with these foxes.

Zhang Zian was secretly relieved. Fortunately, Fina and Famous had not caught the foxes yesterday. It would be a problem if they got infected. They could even transmit any germs to the entire pet shop upon their return.

After these things were done, the next step was to put on GPS wireless launch collars.

The GPS collar was very light, and its tightness could be adjusted. It weighed only about 100 grams and did not affect the animal’s activities. It was a very functional product with built-in GPS, wireless transmitter, body temperature sensor, activity indicator, and battery.

The GPS location was recorded every hour. The capturing of this information would continue for one year. When it eventually ran out of power, it would automatically fall off the animal. Even without power, it would still transmit wireless signals for one month after falling off, so that researchers could find the collars through the wireless receiver and bring back the data recorded on them.

This field work was often done over long durations and often counted in years. Data was hard to come by, and the working environment was difficult. Despite the harsh working environment, the researchers neither got flowers nor any applause. Ordinary people often could not understand the boring data that they had obtained from the research.

“Does this mean we will have to return here in about a year’s time?” Zhang Zian asked while putting a collar on the fennec fox.

Wei Kang smiled and said, “If we have the chance, we can do it, but I don’t think we will have the budget. Even if we don’t come, our colleagues at Cairo University will pick up these collars for us.”

“Oh. Okay. I understand.” Zhang Zian nodded. It seemed that Wei Kang had already arranged this in advance.

After putting a collar on each fennec fox, Wei Kang adjusted the setting of the collar to check whether the data and signal were working normally. From his expression, everything seemed fine.

After breakfast, Wei Kang looked at the time. The efficacy of the anesthetic may soon wear off. He instructed Zhang Zian and his team to take the cages to the sand dunes where they’d first encountered the animals. Then they should prepare to return them to nature once more.