#千万IP创科普# It's called "Ling Bu Fu", a 10-year-old "snow mountain warrior"

On September 1, the 2024 "First Lesson of the School Year", a large-scale public welfare program jointly sponsored by the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Education, and China Central Radio and Television, met with young audiences across the country as scheduled. This year's "First Lesson of the School Year" is themed "Lovely China" and adopts the "multi-location real-life classroom" model to present the myriad atmospheres and broad prospects of Chinese-style modernization from the time and space dimensions of history, reality, and the future. When the real-life classroom followed Qi Xinzhang, deputy director of the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center, and Nidong Lamao, a student at Xining National Middle School in Guoluo, Xining, Qinghai Province, into the world of snow leopards, "Lovely China" showed a different kind of cuteness in the eyes of the students. Nidong Lamao recommended his hometown of Qinghai to everyone, and went to the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center with his classmates, and a picture of a journey to rescue snow leopards slowly unfolded.

"On December 2, after daybreak, the veterinarian arrived successfully and examined Ling Bufu."

"On December 3, I ate 1 kg of mutton and started to have a fever. I regained some consciousness, but the pain reappeared. My face, teeth, and tail hurt (I received an IV)."

"On December 4, he continued to have a fever, but his consciousness continued to recover. He resisted when the wound was cleaned, and his hind legs were able to support his body for a short time. He also had pain in his face, teeth, and tail. He ate 1 kg of mutton and 1 pigeon."

On August 20, the rescue diary of Qi Xinzhang, deputy director of the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center and deputy director of Xining Wildlife Park, was opened, which clearly recorded the rescue of the snow leopard "Ling Bufu" in 2022.

Ling Bufu is an elderly male snow leopard over 10 years old. He originally lived in Nangqian County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. During a hunt in the summer of 2022, his sternum was broken by a yak. ​​After healed, he went to "steal" yaks and was dragged and rubbed by the yak, causing serious damage to his face.

"When we saw Ling Bufu, its face was covered in blood. After a comprehensive physical examination, we found that it weighed only 26.9 kilograms, while a normal male snow leopard weighs between 35 and 50 kilograms. There was a large area of ​​necrosis on its face due to purulent infection. X-ray examination revealed that the sternum was fractured and healed dislocated," Qi Xinzhang recalled.

Fluid replacement, antibacterial, analgesic, debridement, pus drainage... After nearly half a year of treatment, Ling Bufu's facial tissue regenerated and the epidermis was basically completely restored, with only the tip of his nose a little crooked.

"Because it always looks unconvinced, we named it 'Ling Bu Fu', which also symbolizes that it 'fights all its life and refuses to accept'." Qi Xinzhang introduced that after 2017, all snow leopards rescued in Xining Wildlife Park were named "Ling". "The original meaning of 'Ling' is ice and snow, which is closer to snow leopards. In addition, 'Ling' also means 'cross, pass'. We hope that all the rescued snow leopards can overcome this hurdle in their lives." Qi Xinzhang said.

Snow leopards, a first-class protected wild animal in my country, are a "barometer" of the health of alpine ecosystems and play an irreplaceable role in maintaining the stability of the ecosystem. Over the years, a series of scientific protection activities have been carried out from the national to the local level, which has restored the authenticity and integrity of the snow leopard habitat and gradually increased the population. So far, the number of snow leopards in Qinghai Province has recovered to 1,200, and they are distributed in all cities and prefectures in the province.

"Because Ling Bufu's four canine teeth were severely worn, the dislocated and healed sternum is still likely to have a second fracture. In addition, it is too old and has lost the ability to survive in the wild. We can only continue to keep and observe it in the zoo, and the park will continue to pay attention to its health." On the wall of the zoo's leopard house are signboards for each snow leopard, telling their respective stories and current situations from name, species, gender, and origin.

Ling Xia, who has a congenital heart disease, Ling Shuang, who cannot survive in the wild, and the gentle and docile Da Hu... Qi Xinzhang knows every snow leopard in the park and even knows their living preferences.

Xining Wildlife Park is the only large-scale comprehensive wildlife park in Qinghai Province with the highest altitude. It is not only the home of plateau-specific animals such as snow leopards, Tibetan foxes, and Przewalski's gazelles, but also the Qinghai Wildlife Breeding and Rescue Center, a national science popularization education base, and the country's only long-term scientific research base for snow leopard breeding research.

"If conditions permit, releasing it into the wild is definitely the first choice." Although Ling Bufu cannot be released due to health reasons and needs to "enjoy his old age" in the zoo, Qi Xinzhang has always emphasized that the perfect outcome of wildlife rescue is to allow the animals to return to the wild and live freely, which is also the goal of rescue work.

On March 11, 2021, a snow leopard broke into a farmer's home near the primary school in Xitan Township, Menyuan Hui Autonomous County, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and suffered head injuries and bleeding. After receiving the news, the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center (hereinafter referred to as the "Rescue Center") rushed to Menyuan County to carry out rescue.

"March 11 is close to the solar term 'Qingzhe', so we named this snow leopard 'Lingzhe' according to tradition," said Qi Xinzhang.

On March 15, Professor Jin Yipeng, Vice Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine of China Agricultural University, and his team and veterinarians from the rescue center conducted a comprehensive physical examination on Ling Zhe. The results showed that Ling Zhe was only 3 years old, with healthy organs and bones, normal blood calcium levels, and did not carry common infectious diseases among cats. He met the conditions for release.

For Lingzhe's safety and to better monitor his release, the rescue team fitted him with a satellite collar. After a night of close monitoring, he was released at 5:50 a.m. on March 16, 12 kilometers away from the rescue site.

"The lowest point of the hillside where the snow leopards were released is 3,800 meters above sea level, and the highest point is over 4,000 meters. The vegetation is relatively dense and there are no residential areas nearby. The snow-capped mountains behind and the ice and snow in the streams on the opposite hillside can provide water, which is very suitable for the snow leopards to live. In addition, there are yak and blue sheep feces and fresh pika caves on the hillside. Local rangers also said that there are blue sheep activities nearby, so there is no shortage of food for snow leopards here." Qi Xinzhang introduced.

This was the first time that a snow leopard was fitted with a satellite positioning collar and the first time that a rescued snow leopard was released. It can be said that this was China's first wild snow leopard "rescue + release + scientific monitoring" project. It is also known as "the most successful snow leopard rescue." It created a classic textbook case of combining systematic rescue with individual scientific research monitoring, filling a gap in this field.

With the first, the first and the first cases in the country coming out from here, Xining has become a pioneer in the field of snow leopard protection and research. These important and valuable snow leopard scientific research results also enable Xining to tell the snow leopard story more vividly and vividly, and build a "snow leopard capital" with more confidence.

Midsummer August is full of vitality. In the leopard house, Ling Bufu, Ling Xia, and Da Hu sometimes stroll in the park, and sometimes lie on the crossbar to rest... From "injured" to "Internet celebrity", they now have a leisurely life thanks to the efforts of the snow leopard rescue team of Xining Wildlife Park.

"Only when we understand can we care, only when we care can we take action, and only when we take action can we have hope." Just as the words on the popular science sign of Xining Wildlife Park say, Qi Xinzhang has been committed to the rescue of snow leopards for many years. He also hopes to use the Internet to make the "Ling" snow leopard become an "Internet celebrity" again and again, so that more and more people can understand and pay attention to the protection of the snow leopard species.

"In the future, we will strengthen scientific research on various snow leopard data to provide support for better snow leopard rescue and breeding," said Qi Xinzhang.

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