There is a saying on the Internet: encounters animals in the wild, the weirder they look, the faster they are; the ugly they look, the longer they are. seems to be a funny joke, but it is well-founded. In recent years, as my country's ecological environment continues to improve, and the crackdown on illegal and criminal activities by relevant departments continues to increase, the number of wild animals has increased.
In this context, it is not surprising that people see all kinds of strange animals in the wild, and the story I want to introduce to you today is related to two strange-looking animals. In May 2008, in Kalayagaqi Township, Yining County, Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, the herdsman Zhang Peiwei encountered a strange thing.
Like in previous years, Zhang Peiwei drove the flock of sheep at home to the Taleshati Canyon in the west of Tianshan to eat grass. It is 60 kilometers away from his hometown. Every time he has to live in a temporary tent for a while. Zhang Peiwei was very familiar with this place. After the flock of sheep started eating grass, he took the bag to a hillside to pick edible fungi. Suddenly, Zhang Peiwei found a ball of black things shaking in the grass not far away.
Similar situations are not special. Maybe there are small animals looking for food in the grass. Zhang Peiwei walked over with a stick, and saw two little heads poking out from the grass in front of him. "Ah, why are there two kittens here?" Zhang Peiwei has seen many animals, but this is the first time he has seen the kitten in front of him.
Zhang Peiwei carefully observed the two kittens and found that they were not long ago. Perhaps because the temperature was too low and their mother did not feed her, the two kittens were dying. After waiting for about half an hour, Zhang Peiwei found that the kitten's parents had not appeared. If they were left here, they would probably die or be eaten by beasts.
Zhang Peiwei is a simple and kind herder. He didn't think so much, so he picked up the two kittens and put them in his arms, and took them back to the tent where he lived temporarily. Zhang Peiwei later recalled in an interview with reporters:
"I wanted to pick up some fritillaria , so I pulled the grass forward. Suddenly I found a grass nearby shaking. I walked over and opened the grass and found two fur grayish-colored and slightly spotted. Two small animals like raccoon were crawling. They were wet by the rain and shivered all over. I thought they were the cubs of grassland spotted cat , so I put it in my arms and took it to the tent where I lived, and fed it some dry food and water." After living in the mountain for a few days, Zhang Peiwei decided to take the two kittens home to raise. In this way, these two kittens lived in the Zhang family. No one expected that what happened next would alarm the police and caused a sensation across the country after being reported by the media.
Zhang Peiwei also gave the two kittens a nice name, the male was Bahad and the female was Guli. The two kittens are in good health and are voracious in every meal and are not afraid of people at all. As the two kittens grew up, Zhang Peiwei and his family increasingly discovered that they seemed to be very different from ordinary domestic cats. They grew big in less than half a month, and domestic cats might not have the size of their size after half a year. Whenever neighbors come to visit, everyone is curious about the breeds of these two kittens.
Some say that these two cats may be special breeds, some say that they are likely to be leopard , etc. In short, there are all kinds of statements. Zhang Peiwei and his family didn't think too much about it, and continued to feed them, and from time to time they even went to the market to buy pork for them to eat. Under the careful care of the Zhang family, the two kittens grew faster and faster, but there were more and more strange things.
First of all, Zhang Peiwei found that the place where they were given sleeping could no longer accommodate them. Seeing that there was a bigger place, Zhang Peiwei had to send the two kittens to the sheep pen and stay with the flock; secondly, Zhang Peiwei's mother originally kept the two kittens as pets and fed them milk every day, but gradually found that they were no longer interested in milk and their appetite was getting bigger and bigger.Two months later, the kitten's tail grew particularly long and its size became more and more like a leopard, which was one of the reasons why Zhang Peiwei sent them to the sheep pen.
From then on, the kitten became a big cat. However, since the two cats lived in the sheep pen, a surprising scene has appeared. One day in July that year, the hardworking and simple Zhang Peiwei got up early, came to the sheep pen to check the flock, and checked the situation of the two cats.
But as soon as he approached the sheep pen, Zhang Peiwei smelled a bloody smell. He was surprised to find a large piece of blood in one corner of the sheep pen. A little lamb was eaten completely, his stomach was hollowed out, and only a torn sheepskin was left. Looking at the two cats, there was obvious blood on their mouths.
"Can the murderer be these two cats?" Zhang Peiwei didn't believe it at first, so he immediately checked the sheep pen and found that there was no trace of the wolf coming in. Perhaps seeing the two cats without excessive reactions, Zhang Peiwei did not delve into this matter, but the progress of the matter completely exceeded his prediction.
Since eating the lamb, the two cats are no longer interested in the original food, so Zhang Peiwei had to buy them pork and chicken, and sometimes they would buy a few live chickens for them to prey. Zhang Peiwei later said: "From this time, sheep will never dare to carry sheep in the sheep pen again. Now, as the body grows, the more you raise it, the more you worry about hurting people. They especially eat more and more meat, and they are almost unable to afford it."
Seeing that it would definitely not work if this continues, Zhang Peiwei discussed with his family and decided to seek help from the relevant departments. This time he decided to really figure out what breed of cats they are and why they eat so much. At that time, the publicity of animal and plant protection was not as strong as it is today. For safety reasons, Zhang Peiwei decided to take a few photos to give to local animal experts and ask them to identify them.
Zhang Peiwei never expected that his actions directly alarmed the public security department, and eventually led to more than 10 police officers coming to the door. Animal experts have made preliminary judgments that the two cats in the photo are very likely to be " snow leopard ". Snow leopard, a national first-class protected animal in , is a world-class endangered species and has been included in the animal protection white paper. It often lives in plateau areas with few people from 2500 to 5000 meters. Currently, the number of snow leopards in Xinjiang accounts for one-quarter of the total number of snow leopards in the world.
Zhang Peiwei quickly received a call from an animal expert, and the other party informed him of some characteristics of the snow leopard on the phone, such as the overall grayish-white hair on the body and covered with black spots. The dark spots on the head are small and dense, while irregular black rings are formed on the back, one side of the body, and the outside of the limbs.
The more you listened, the more you became more and more frightened. The appearance of the two cats in your family was almost the same as what the animal experts described on the phone. Is it really a snow leopard? The news that the "wild cat" turned into a "snow leopard" spread wildly, and the entire village was sensational, and villagers continued to flock to Zhang Peiwei's home to see the strangeness.
Some villagers have seen the animal world and say that this snow leopard is a national protected animal . It is as precious as giant pandas. It is illegal for ordinary people to raise it. What should I do next? Animal experts don’t know how to deal with it either. They have seen this animal on information before. Now there are two snow leopards in the herdsmen's home at once, and they can only report to their superiors.
Zhang Peiwei was even more worried that since the identity of the "wild cat" was confirmed, the whole family spent every day in fear. As the snow leopard grows bigger and bigger, not to mention the cost, what should I do if I bite someone? Zhang Peiwei's mother was even more crying. She didn't know where she heard that her son was likely to be in jail for this.
However, Zhang Peiwei also had feelings for the two snow leopards. He took them home himself, and they never hurt anyone. In early August of that year, Nurmati, director of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Office of Yili Prefecture, and reporters came to Zhang Peiwei's home. This time they had to confirm the identity of the "wild cat" in person. Before
came, Nurmati made sufficient preparations and consulted a lot of information. When he saw that among the two "wild cats" in Zhang Peiwei's home, he undoubtedly thought they were snow leopards through body shape measurement and fur marking identification.Under the witness of reporters, Nurmati registered and filed the rescue process and feeding of the two snow leopards in detail.
After Nurma returned, he immediately reported to the Wildlife Protection Department of the Autonomous Region Forestry Department and the State Forestry Bureau. The superiors attached great importance to it. On September 7, an expert who had raised snow leopards accompanied Nurmati to Zhang Peiwei's home and identified the two "wild cats" again. Finally, it was confirmed that they were the snow leopards listed in the International Endangered Wildlife Red Book.
Experts told Zhang Peiwei that although these two snow leopards are cat animals, they are very different from the domestic cats we usually raise. Even if they are just born, the two are very different. Zhang Peiwei listened very seriously and asked the experts why they could pick them up in the grass?
experts told Zhang Peiwei that the living environment of snow leopards is relatively harsh, mainly in alpine bare rocks, alpine meadows, alpine shrubs and mountain coniferous forest areas with an altitude of 2,000 to 6,000 meters. Even in summer, it is still in areas with an altitude of 5,000 meters. What's more, the global climate of warmed at that time, and the snow line of increased.
Zhang Peiwei picked up the snow leopard in May, which is the early summer in the local area. He himself admitted that his flock of sheep could not eat grass at such a high altitude. In addition, the nests of snow leopards are extremely hidden and are generally built in cliffs and caves. Based on this, experts judged that the snow leopard's mother was probably too hungry and gave birth to two cubs when she went down the mountain to find food.
The identity of the "wild cat" is confirmed, but how to deal with it? Just let it go or send it to the zoo? The experts did not have a good idea at the moment. Since Zhang Peiwei had been raising two snow leopards for several months and had a relatively good understanding of their living habits, he decided to temporarily let him continue to maintain them and wait for the relevant departments to study the rescue plan before deciding how to deal with it.
has come to this point, and Zhang Peiwei didn't say anything else, but just paid more attention to the every move of the two snow leopards, but the price he paid next was something he and his family did not expect. Half a year later, the two snow leopards had grown from about half a kilogram when they were just picked up to 15 kilograms. As the weight approaches the adult snow leopard, the amount of food intake also increases greatly.
Whenever a neighbor came to his home, Zhang Peiwei was full of concern when talking about snow leopards. At the beginning, the two snow leopards only ate one or two kilograms of meat a day, but now they have to eat at least four or five kilograms of meat, and sometimes three or four live chickens, and they don’t eat much cattle and mutton. Zhang Peiwei's wife said: "If you feed the ducks, they can eat 10 live ducks every day."
In order to raise these two snow leopards well, Zhang Peiwei dealt with most of the more than 500 sheep in his home at a low price, and many of them left were slaughtered and given to the snow leopards. Watching the snow leopard grow up day by day, Zhang Peiwei felt that he had two hot potatoes in his hand, which could not be beaten, let go, and even more abused.
Zhang Peiwei's mother said: "Since raising these two snow leopards at home, it is more troublesome than serving individuals. Just eating meat has made the family poor. Fortunately, the ones raised by themselves have chickens and sheep, and with the help of kind people, they can hold on for the time being, but the family relies on these sheep and chickens to live on. I originally thought that I could sell more chickens for some money this year, but most of the chickens were fed snow leopards and more than a dozen sheep were eaten. Now it is almost impossible to hold on, especially the safety of snow leopards. In order to protect the snow leopards, I dare not leave home, and I am worried about being afraid during the day and night."
In desperation, Zhang Peiwei asked for help from a local media, hoping to report through reporters to the government, because he really couldn't afford it. As a result, public opinion was in an uproar after the news was released. Some people wonder why the relevant departments did not announce this news to the public before. According to the head of the forestry department of Yili Prefecture, when they learned that Zhang Peiwei had picked up two snow leopards, they immediately reported to their superiors, but considering that the snow leopard is an endangered species and is prone to frightening. In addition, they just passed the breastfeeding period, , decided to temporarily block the news.
Now Zhang Peiwei took the initiative to ask the media for help, and media from all over the country came to report that there were once thousands of visitors every day. As a result, the snow leopard was frightened because there were too many strangers, and her appetite decreased significantly and her mental state was very bad, which made Zhang Peiwei very worried.
Soon, Yining County Forestry Police Station and Kalayagaqi Township sent more than 10 police officers to Zhang Peiwei's home to protect the snow leopard for 24 hours. At the same time, the Forestry Bureau also sent people to install monitoring equipment in the room where the snow leopard lives, so that Zhang Peiwei could observe the situation of the two snow leopards at any time through the monitor in the bedroom.
Of course, in the face of overwhelming reports, some disharmonious doubts also appeared, which made Zhang Peiwei feel deeply wronged. For example, some experts said that Zhang Peiwei must have lied, "I picked up a 'wild cat' with herd sheep and turned into a snow leopard when I grew up. This story is very news-oriented and may be a scam. Zhang Peiwei may have concealed a lot of details."
my country's Criminal Law clearly stipulates that those who illegally hunt and kill precious and endangered wild animals protected by the state, or those who illegally purchase, transport, or sell precious and endangered wild animals and their products protected by the state shall be punished accordingly depending on the severity of the circumstances.
This means that it is unrealistic to continue to be raised by two snow leopards at Zhang Peiwei's house. Fortunately, there was a proper way to deal with it in the end. With the efforts of relevant departments, two snow leopards were sent to a wildlife rescue center, and professional breeders were responsible for teaching them hunting skills, and they were put in the wild when the time was ripe.
According to media reports, my country's snow leopards are mainly distributed in high mountain areas in Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and other provinces. The number of wild populations has increased from about 4,100 in the early 21st century to about 5,000, with a significant increase, which has a lot to do with the country's strengthening of animal protection.
