Chapter 855 Trusted Companion
The cheetah Harley curled up into a ball, with his back pressed against Bifang's side and his thick and long tail coiled up and resting under his head.
If you listen carefully, you can even hear a subtle snoring sound.
No wonder I didn’t feel cold at all.
The entire territory of Kenya is located in the tropical monsoon zone and crosses the equator, but due to its high terrain, even in summer, the maximum temperature will not exceed 30 degrees, and the minimum temperature in winter will not be lower than 10 degrees.
The climate is relatively mild all year round, and the comfort level is even higher than that of Kunming in China. It is like spring all year round and is known as the "Kingdom of Flowers".
However, it is not like summer all year round, just because it is like spring all year round.
It is October now, with the temperature over 20 degrees during the day, and Bifang can still walk around in short sleeves. At night, Kenya is colder, and sometimes some warming measures are needed, which is why the cheetah came closer without noticing.
It is the instinct and nature of animals to seek out heat sources.
Bifang raised his hand and placed it on his forehead, then squinted for a while, and then propped himself up from the ground without making any sound.
The cheetah nearby was unaware and continued to sleep peacefully.
Bifang turned on the live broadcast and captured the cheetah's sleeping posture and snoring.
[Cute, want to rub]
[Want to rub? If you rub, I'll turn you into shit, the stinky kind]
[Sexy cat, showing sleeping face, live broadcast online]
You understand the title.
[Hey, hey, cat, big cat]
[I am Hammurabi, I am here to make laws]
[By the way, do cheetahs sleep at night? Shouldn't they sleep during the day and be energetic at night? ]
The sky was dim, and if you didn't shoot towards the east, you might even think it was still night, but it was indeed getting light.
That's why the audience will have this question.
"Cheetahs live a relatively regular life, usually working at sunrise and resting at sunset. They are animals that are active during the day and hide at night, just like us humans."
"In this regard, cheetahs are somewhat different from other cats. Cats like leopards, tigers and lions are basically nocturnal and rarely hunt during the day or even at all."
"If you have seen them in the animal world, you will find that during the day they are either lying on the ground and taking a nap, or taking a leisurely walk."
Bifang touched the cheetah's head, and his furry ears twitched instinctively.
"No one has studied why there is such a difference, but I guess it may be related to the characteristics of the cheetah itself."
"The cheetah's high hunting efficiency and speed mean that it doesn't need to rely too much on ambush hunting techniques. In this case, choosing to stagger away from other animals is a wise choice."
"Cheetahs are weak and have a 10% chance of having their prey snatched away when they hunt during the day, not to mention at night when predators are highly active."
"In fact, the original purpose of mammals' nocturnal activity was to avoid the existence of dinosaurs."
Nocturnal animals usually have well-developed hearing and sense of smell, and some species have specialized visual systems specifically adapted to low-light environments, making it difficult for them to move normally during the day.
These are obviously selected based on daytime activities in order to better survive.
Most early mammals were nocturnal, and once had to limit their activities to the night in order to avoid the dinosaurs that were active during the day.
It wasn't until the extinction of the dinosaurs 60 million years ago that mammals, hiding from the dinosaurs, were able to spend more time active during the day.
Many mammals today still lack some important features of daytime predators, such as color vision. Most animals are almost color blind, and their vision is more similar to that of nocturnal reptiles and birds, which shows the remnant of this nocturnal characteristic.
Last year, scholars from University College London and Tel Aviv University in Israel used computer algorithms to analyze data from 2,415 mammals that are still alive today, redrawing the activity patterns of their ancestors millions of years ago.
Analysis shows that after the extinction of dinosaurs, the daytime activities of the ancestors of mammals increased, but this process was actually very long, with a transition period of millions of years in between, which was a stage of mixed day and night activities.
Human ancestors, the ancestors of primates, were among the first mammals to switch to a diurnal lifestyle.
"Speaking of which, there is something quite interesting."
“The process of human migration and conquest on Earth is also a process in which the living space of wild animals is compressed.”
"Human activities now occupy 50 to 70 percent of Earth's land surface, significantly reducing the range of mammal activity and migration around the world, affecting terrestrial mammals of all sizes in almost all regions."
"This has resulted in extremely limited resources for some animals, and coupled with over-hunting of some animals by humans and environmental degradation caused by human activities, many species have become extinct."
"And the impact of human activities on animals is not just reflected in space."
"This year, new research suggests that human activity is forcing mammals around the world to become more active at night, showing a trend towards increased nocturnality, because only at night are they less likely to encounter humans."
[Oh my goodness, humans are the dinosaurs of the new era]
[A bit outrageous]
[This thing can still be changed]
The audience was shocked and looked like they had learned something new.
Bifang nodded and said, "The results of a study published in the U.S. journal Science on June 14, 2018 showed that the nocturnal behavior of wild mammals has increased by an average of 1.36 times to cope with higher levels of human activity interference."
"Whether these animals live on which continent, or whether they are herbivores or carnivores, their nocturnal behavior has been affected by human activities."
"For example, in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, sable antelopes that previously moved mainly during the day now spend about half their activity at night."
"Not only do hunting , agriculture, housing and road construction drive animals into the night, but seemingly harmless human outdoor activities such as mountain climbing can also interfere with the living habits of wild mammals. Didn't a man encounter a black bear while hiking a while ago? He drove the bear away by shouting. I guess it was a female bear and the man had entered its territory."
"So we may see nocturnal cheetahs in the future, if they haven't completely gone extinct before."
"But now, it's time to wake up."
After saying this, Bifang, who had just been touching the cheetah's head, hit it directly on the forehead.
The pain instantly woke Harley up from his sleep. He opened his eyes in confusion, obviously not yet figuring out what was going on.
And Bifang also explained to the audience.
"Haley, who grew up in a safe environment, has poor vigilance and even has a habit of sleeping late. These need to be corrected."
“Although cheetahs are diurnal animals, their main hunting activities are still carried out in the early morning and dusk, which are the golden times for hunting.”
“The diurnal variation would allow predators to better observe and monitor animals.”
"Hunting is a major activity throughout the day for the animals, and we can observe peaks during dawn and dusk, indicating a crepuscular bias."
"After dusk, cheetahs will choose to rest on the grass, and males and cubs often roam at night. But as a vigilant animal, individuals often check the vicinity at observation points, which are some hills, and take turns to remain vigilant."
"So normally cheetahs start to go out foraging around five in the morning. They are more alert when walking, and stop from time to time to look around to see if there are any prey they can catch."
"But look at Halley again. The morning light has already appeared, but it doesn't seem to be waking up at all. It's even a little confused now."
As it said that, Bifang hit it on the head again, forcing it to turn on.
Harley was forcibly awakened from his sleep by Bifang and seemed a little dazed until the second chestnut hit him. He finally woke up completely, yawned, stood up unsteadily from the ground, looked around, and finally raised his head to look at Bifang. His squinting eyes seemed to be asking if it was time for dinner .
But then it felt someone pinching the back of its neck, and then it was dragged out of its territory little by little, towards the outside of the protection center.
Today Bifang is going to take Harley to the grassland to have a look. If possible, it’s time to prepare to return to the wilderness.
The audience was stunned when they saw the cheetah being dragged in a trail of dirt.
[Ni Da Tian, what time is it now? ]
[It seems to be 5:30 in Kenya, which is earlier than when I was in high school]
[Which high school gets up so late? (dog head)]
[Morning reading at 5:40, getting up at 5:35 is not normal (funny)]
[Harley: I have never thought about getting up early in my life]
[It was like a knife cutting my butt. It really opened my eyes. 】
They dragged along all the way until Bifang met Barry who had also just woken up. Bifang had made an appointment with Barry to go to the grassland together this morning.
Although Barry was not Harley's keeper before, he was familiar with Harley. With him around, it can be ensured that any unexpected situation can be recovered.
The two of them took Harley and drove the car out of the reserve. The sub-adult cheetah seemed to have finally come to its senses.
Harley, sitting in the back seat of the car, looked at the morning light appearing on the edge of the grassland and became excited.
Unfortunately, Bifang was holding onto the back of its neck, so Harley had no way to escape.
After they were far away from the protection center, Bifang took Harley out of the car, and Barry watched over them.
At this time, the sky was getting brighter and brighter, and the situation of the entire grassland could be seen quite clearly.
However, because the protection center is close to the suburbs of the city, although the area is vast, there are not many animals.
This is not a bad thing. For the novice Harley, without animals, there will naturally be no powerful enemies. If they run away, he can still guarantee a certain degree of safety.
Bifang stroked the cheetah squatting on the ground, kept touching its head, and said to the audience: "If Harley confirmed my identity as a keeper before, I want to see now whether it regards me as a companion and whether it can follow me on the grassland without letting go."
He looked at Barry beside him: "Has this happened before when you took Harley out?"
Barry nodded. "Of course. It is the nature of all animals to be able to run in the vast natural wilderness. When Hamid first brought Harley out, it ran like crazy, like a yellow lightning. But fortunately, it came back on its own in the end. If it runs away this time, I believe the final outcome will be the same."
Although what Bifang said made it seem like the consequences would be serious, looking at Harley's friendly attitude, it was clear that giving up was only a small probability event.
It's just that both sides need to have more trust, that's all.
Barry, who has raised animals for decades, had already seen this, so he was not worried at all. He didn't even call his other companions, but came alone to help.
Bifang smiled. Actually, he was not so sure at first because he had only raised a few kinds of animals.
White-fronted goose, that's following Etienne.
As the most successfully domesticated creatures by humans, dogs and cats have nothing to worry about.
Although the wild camel Alpha was a little troublesome, time was guaranteed. After the initial taming, it was not until a month later that Bifang slightly relaxed his supervision of it and established trust with it. Before that, he would not even feed it easily.
But for Cheetah Harley, the two sides had only known each other for less than a week, and he was still unsure.
It would be fine if he just put the reins on him like a camel, but this time, Harley was destined to be free.
At every step, Bifang has done his best and can only hope that the facts are indeed as old Barry said.
"Generally speaking , a cheetah only kills one prey at a time, and walks about five kilometers a day, or at most more than ten kilometers. Although it is good at running, it does not walk far."
"So...even if Harley disappears in the end, we don't have to worry too much about not being able to find it."
After taking a few deep breaths, Bifang slowly let go of the back of Harley's neck under the gaze of the audience in the live broadcast room.
For a moment, without the restraint around his neck, Harley was still a little unconvinced. He raised his head and tilted his head back to look at Bifang twice.
After confirming that he was truly free, he paused for two seconds, and then stood up under everyone's nervous gaze.
Harley looked around and took a step forward.
At this time, the audience in the live broadcast room were still worried, but Bifang had already breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at old Barry next to him, and then they smiled at each other.
Everyone was confused.
Looking at the cheetah sniffing around, Bifang, who was aware of the surrounding environment, was in a good mood and explained: "Remember I said that cheetahs are very timid creatures, but after I released my palm, Harley did not run away immediately, which proves that I am its inner safe zone. It really regards me as a companion, a trustworthy companion."
Old Barry stepped forward, stretched out his hand, and high-fived Bifang: " Are you going to start your live broadcast tomorrow?"
"That's right."
"Then I'll keep an eye on you guys at the protection center."
"If possible, it would be even better to give some gifts."
"Ha ha!"
