Hangzhou Wildlife World finally admitted that the leopard had fled on April 19. The reason for the flight was that the management staff were negligent and did not strictly follow the regulations when cleaning, resulting in the escape of three leopards. The three leopards are two males and two males. They are about 2.5 years old and underage, and they are artificially bred leopards.
We know that the captive-bred leopards are not very capable of hunting in the wild, and it has been 21 days since the day they fled. In these 21 days, the third leopard that has fled has still not been found, so the problem is coming. What does the fleeing leopard eat in the wild, and can it really survive in the wild?
What do the fleeing leopards eat?
According to the introduction of Zou Jianqiang, a licensed veterinarian in the Wildlife World, the main food of the fleeing leopards in the zoo is mainly thawed chicken nuggets. Due to the long-term growth in the artificial breeding environment, the leopard's ability to survive in the wild is poor.
The wild leopard is less timid and likes to be nocturnal, mainly inhabiting hidden tall trees and bushes. When wild leopards hunt, they will use ambush methods. First, they will quietly shorten the distance from their prey. When the hunting distance is reached, they will suddenly rush out and obtain the prey by locking their throats. Or the leopards hide in trees, waiting for their prey to pass by before they make a surprise attack.
However, it should be noted that although the leopard has a strong hunting ability, the leopard that lives in the artificial environment for a long time has a weak hunting ability in the wild. The veterinarian Zou Jianqiang introduced: The second leopard found should be hungry for a long time , its stomach and body size are obviously different from those when it was raised before.
In fact, there is no shortage of food in the area where the fleeing leopards fled. Now, in order to search for the third fleeing leopard, the search team has used a variety of methods to search for its traces, including thermal imaging drone . According to the searcher Xu Lijun explained: According to the exploration and discovery of thermal imaging drones , There are many animals on the mountain, which will interfere with the search for leopard trails. And the news also means that local food can sustain it for a while.
But it should be noted that in order to find the trace of the third leopard, searchers will search for its traces where it has existed, and where it may have existed. For example: search for its footprints near water sources, and look for its leftover prey in its escape route. However, there is no report of finding the leftover prey eaten by the leopard, only that nearby residents should not go out alone, and take good care of their pet dogs.
This is because leopards living in zoos have been in contact with people for a long time, so they do not actively avoid people like wild leopards, but may get close to people, which may lead to accidental injury to humans. In addition, fleeing leopards have weak hunting ability and are young, and it is difficult to hunt wild animals. They may actively attack pet dogs, but they are less likely to attack pet cats, because they are both cats and pets. Cats are sometimes more wild than leopards in zoos.
Although the fleeing leopard may hunt pet dogs, there is no news of the leopard attacking pet dogs, which may mean that it has been hungry for many days. I hope searchers can find it as soon as possible and provide it with reasonable diet.
Why can't the fleeing leopard be released?
Some netizens think that since the third leopard that fled cannot be caught, why not just release the fled leopard to the forest?
In fact, the little leopard that was released into the house is 's double irresponsibility for people and leopards.
First of all, it is irresponsible to people. Although the 2.5-year-old leopard is not as lethal as the adult leopard, the leopard's teeth and sharp claws are a certain threat to humans. Moreover, there are many elderly people and children living in the area where the little leopards fled, causing serious safety hazards to the local people.
Secondly, the little leopards in the captive breeding environment will not avoid people, which brings a certain threat to the local people.
Furthermore, the little leopards in the captive breeding environment have poor hunting ability and are difficult to hunt by themselves. If they cannot be captured and returned to the zoo in time, they may die due to insufficient food.
More importantly, leopards are not suitable for free release. When some rescued leopards are released, experts will consider the local ecological environment, evaluate the number of local herbivores, the density of carnivores and the release area. The flow of people, etc., can only be released locally if their production conditions are met. Although there are many small animals in the area where the fleeing leopards are currently wandering, the local wild environment is broken, it is difficult to support the long-term survival of the leopards, and it will also threaten the safety of local residents.
It is precisely because of this that the fleeing leopard must be "captured and returned to the garden", which is not only responsible for the local people, but also for the leopard.
