1246 Return to Mother Nature (1/2)

Zhang Zian brought Wei Kang and the students to the sand dune where they'd caught the fennec foxes. They brought the anesthetized foxes out of the cage and placed them on the sand, giving them some water and food as repayment for what they had done to them. It was just like the milk that a person got after donating their blood.

The anesthesia was wearing off. Even though they hadn't completely woken up yet, their bodies were starting to wriggle. Occasionally their tails swished, or their ears twitched.

Zhang Zian and the rest grabbed onto the empty cages as they retreated to the other side of the sand dune, waiting for them to fully awaken before they could leave in peace. Before they regained their strength, they had to take responsibility for their safety and health and prevent any eagles or other animals from taking advantage of their weakened state.

The sun was up. Yet another hot day had begun.

They raised their binoculars, observing the fennec foxes' actions. The morning sun drove away the chill of the night, enveloping the fennec foxes in its glow. The breeze rifled through their sandy fur, nearly a perfect camouflage. If they were paying less attention, they would have lost the foxes in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, the fennec foxes' leader's eyelid twitched before opening. It struggled to stand. Due to the remaining anesthetic in its body, its muscles had yet to fully regain control, and its actions were still clumsy. It observed its surroundings, confused.

It was the strongest one out of all the foxes in the group, and therefore it should wake up first.

It picked up on the fragrance of food nearby, giving it a hard sniff, and noticed the food and water sitting a few meters away from them.

But as the leader, it did not keep the good things for itself. It ignored the temptation of food and water and ran first to its companions' sides, using its snout to nudge at them and using its tongue to lick at their faces.

Its companions gradually woke up too. With their strength not yet fully recovered, they walked about like drunk men in the dead of night.

They all smelled the food and drinks. Even though they had eaten quite a lot last night, the lack of food and water in the desert meant that they would eat anything they could find as soon as they could. They quickly gathered around the food, fighting to have some of it.

Out of respect for their leader, they left one plate alone for the leader to have.

Wei Kang gave the others a satisfied smile, meaning to say, ”They sure are canines. Even though other foxes are solitary animals, these pack fennec foxes exhibit pack behavior similar to other pack canines.”

Gao Ke held the camera, filming this precious sight.

In some countries, fennec foxes could be reared as domesticated pets. Even in China, you could do it after some complicated procedures. But no one would keep an entire pack of fennec foxes, so many of their behaviors could only be seen in the wild, and their habits also changed when the environment they were living in changed too.

This was survival of the fittest.

For example, tigers were solitary animals. There were barely any exceptions in the world. They were extremely territorial, and other than during breeding season, it was difficult to find two tigers living together in one space.

But in 2002, China's Save China's Tigers Association and a few international organizations gathered together to protect China's South Chinese tigers. In consideration of the fact that there was barely any remaining natural habitat for tigers in China, they started the Save China's Tigers Rewilding project, placing five South Chinese tigers from zoos in Africa's Tiger Nature Reserve.