Although Zhang Zian described it lightly, everyone knew that even with the help of a dog, it was very difficult to catch a few fennec foxes by yourself. In addition to a bold and careful plan, you also needed to have enough luck.
Wei Kang did not care about the process of Zhang Zian's capture. His attention was firmly attracted by the fennec foxes. He urged the four students behind him, "What are you waiting for? It's rare to come to the wild for field research. Hurry up and get to work! "
The three boys responded and dispersed, running back to the car to get the equipment.
He He had never done this kind of errands. She squatted by the cage, gently tapping the wire and teasing the cute little foxes. She was fascinated by the small and cute fennec foxes, even forgetting her identity as a biological researcher. She really wanted to take them home as pets.
"Be careful of your fingers!" Zhang Zian reminded her.
He He was stunned and slightly retracted her hand. Then, an fennec fox fiercely and quickly opened its mouth to bite down. It was the leader of the fennec foxes, and also the strongest one among them.
Fortunately, she retracted her hand in advance, and it only bit the wire. It also gave her a threatening low growl, warning her not to have any improper thoughts.
"So fierce!" She was a little scared, but her love for the fennec foxes did not diminish. After all, even cats and dogs would sometimes bite their owners, not to mention these little foxes that lived in the wild.
"Teacher, are we going to bring these little foxes back?" She asked Wei Kang happily. If she could bring all of them back to China, she might be able to get one to raise at home. It would definitely attract the envy of her best friends.
Wei Kang shook his head. "What are you thinking about? We are scientific researchers. We are here to study animals in the wild, not to hunt animals. These animals live in the wild, and they only belong in the wild. After we finish our research, we will release them back to nature. "
He He pouted in disappointment, but she knew that Wei Kang was very stubborn when it came to academics. Once he made a decision, he would not change it.
Zhang Zian had a similar question before. If Wei Kang really found the original Egyptian cats, would he catch them and bring them back to China?
It would definitely cause a big sensation when it was brought back to China, but was it really a good thing for the primitive Egyptian cats?
Wild animals lived in the wild. If they were artificially raised, they would be given a more comfortable living environment, and their lifespans would often be longer. However, it was still disadvantageous to the population, especially for a population that was already scarce. The loss of one or two could cause a disaster to the entire population.
True scientific researchers would not ignore the righteousness of the biosphere for their own small profits.
Moreover, the environment of the desert was too special. It was difficult for humans to simulate a similar environment.
Bringing a wild animal back to an artificial environment would only be considered a violation of scientific research ethics under very special circumstances. For example, it was possible to determine that there was only one animal left in the wild and that the population could no longer reproduce naturally in such an extremely critical situation.
The door of Zhang Zian's tent moved a little, and Fina walked out while yawning. She also heard Wei Kang's words and stared at his back thoughtfully.
At this time, the three boys also ran back with a bunch of equipment.
Wei Kang solemnly said to Lee Peter, "Mr. Lee Peter, we may have to delay our departure. This is our work. We will catch up with you as soon as possible after we finish."
Lee Peter gently waved his hand. "I said that the whole team is a collective. We advance and retreat together. I am very supportive of your research. This is what we agreed in advance. We will wait for you to finish before we set off together. It doesn't matter even if we stay here this morning. "
"Okay, thank you."
Wei Kang nodded deeply and called his disciples to start working.
The others knew that their departure would be delayed this morning, so they were not in a hurry. Some went back to their tents to sleep, some listened to music leisurely for breakfast, and some curiously stayed behind to continue watching.
Wei Kang first used cameras and video cameras to take images of the fennec foxes, recorded the location, and then anesthetized them with ketamine. After the anesthetics took effect and they fell asleep, they were taken out of the cages and placed flat on the ground. A series of vital signs such as body length, weight, temperature, and heartbeat were measured and recorded.
In addition to the use of anesthetics, the other work was not complicated. After watching the demonstration, Zhang Zian and the others present also started to help.
Wei Kang guided everyone from time to time and reminded them of some things that they should pay attention to. For example, he asked everyone to wear disposable gloves because this kind of wild animal may have parasites such as fleas hidden in its fur and may also carry germs. He especially reminded Zhang Zian not to let Fina and Famous come into contact with these fennec foxes.
Zhang Zian thought that it was a good thing that he did not let Fina and Famous catch the fennec foxes themselves yesterday. Otherwise, if they were infected with any germs, it would be troublesome. When they went back, they might even infect the animals in the entire pet shop.
After these things were done, the next step was to put on the fennec foxes' GPS wireless launch collars.
The GPS collar was very light and could be adjusted. It was only about 100 grams, so it would not affect the animals' activities too much. However, the functions were very complete. It had built-in GPS, wireless transmitters, body temperature sensors, activity indicators, and batteries. It could be used for a year if it recorded GPS information once an hour. When it ran out of power, it would automatically fall off. After falling off, it could still continue to emit wireless signals for a month, so that researchers could find these collars through wireless receivers and bring them back to analyze the recorded data.
These field scientific research jobs were often calculated in years. The data was not easy to come by, and the working environment was difficult. However, they did not get any flowers or applause. Ordinary people often could not understand the use of these boring data that they had spent their research funds on.
"Do we have to come back again in a year?" Zhang Zian asked as he put on the fennec fox's collar.
Wei Kang laughed and said, "If there is a chance, we can, but I don't think the budget will be approved. It doesn't matter. Even if we don't come back, our colleagues at Cairo University will pick up these collars for us."
"Oh, I understand." Zhang Zian nodded. It seemed that Wei Kang had already made arrangements with Cairo University in advance.
After putting on the collar for each fennec fox, Wei Kang adjusted the settings of the collar and checked whether the data and signal reception were normal. From his expression, the collar was working normally. Everything was fine.
After breakfast, Wei Kang looked at the time and thought that it was almost time for the anesthetics to wear off. He called Zhang Zian and his disciples to take the cages back to the sand dune where Zhang Zian had caught them. He was ready to release them back to nature.
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