Rescued leopard cat returned to wild habitat

Editor’s Note: As protecting the planet’s flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country’s commitment to protecting the natural world.

After spending 136 days at the Shenzhen Wildlife Rescue Center, a young leopard cat hesitated for a moment as he sniffed the air outside the door of his portable cage before running into the forests of Wutong Mountain in Guangdong Province on February 1 .

On September 18, the newborn leopard cat, which is under second-class state protection, was found by a city park employee who noticed it struggling on its own. After a night of observation, waiting in vain for his mother’s return, the shelter’s animal workers decided to take the animal in.

At about a week old and still not teething, the 17 centimeter long, 180 gram cub was the smallest leopard cat rescued by the center.

“The cub was weak and had low immunity, and we had to put it in an incubator,” said Zheng Suqun, a veterinarian at the center. “We gave him goat’s milk every two hours.”

About twenty days later, the cub was growing healthy and had been removed from the incubator, and meat was added to its diet.

On December 2, it was transferred to a “wildness cage” where tree branches and vines were placed to simulate a wild environment. “We tried not to make contact with the cub, except to eat, because we didn’t want it to develop any attachment or dependency on humans,” Zheng said.

By late December, the cub had entered a more extensive training period as he began learning to hunt. “When it was able to hunt small, live animals such as chickens, mice and fish, and remain vigilant enough to avoid risks, we could call its wildness training a success,” said Zeng Zhiliao, a senior veterinarian at the center . who ruled that the leopard cat met the criteria to be released.

Zheng said, “We fed him a little more than usual before the release, so that he can go through it for a while if he can’t catch food right away.”

“I am relieved and relaxed,” she said as she watched the leopard cat return to the wild. “We’ve raised him well and made sure he can live, have a habitat and hopefully reproduce, and that’s nice enough.”