Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 859 - 855 Trustworthy Companions

Cheetah Harley curled up into a ball, with his back against Bi Fang's side, his thick tail coiled around, resting under his head.

If you listened carefully, you could still hear the faint purring sound.

No wonder it didn't feel cold at all.

Kenya is entirely located within the tropical monsoon zone, crossing the equator, but due to its higher elevation, even in summer, the maximum temperature doesn't surpass thirty degrees, and in winter, it doesn't drop below ten.

The climate is mild year-round, even more comfortable than Kun's spring-like days in Huaxia, earning it the nickname "Country of Flowers" for its eternal spring.

However, eternal spring is not the same as eternal summer.

It was October now, with daytime temperatures over twenty degrees, Bi Fang could still stroll around in short sleeves, but at night, Kenya got quite cold, sometimes requiring some warm measures, which unconsciously made the cheetah lean in close.

Seeking a heat source is both an animal's instinct and nature.

Bi Fang placed a hand on his forehead and squinted for a while longer before getting up from the ground without making a sound.

The cheetah beside him had no idea, still quietly in a deep sleep.

Bi Fang turned on the live stream and captured the cheetah's sleeping position and purring sounds.

[So cute, want to pet]

[Want to pet? Pet and you'll be turned into poop, the stinky kind]

[Sexy kitty, showing off while asleep, live stream full fruit]

[You know how to do headlines]

[Hehehe, cat, big cat]

[I am Hammurabi, I'm here to lay down the law]

[Speaking of which, do cheetahs sleep at night too? Shouldn't they sleep during the day and be lively at night?]

The sky was faintly brightening, and if you didn't aim the camera east, you might think it was still night, but indeed it was starting to dawn.

That was why viewers had this question.

"Cheetahs have a regular lifestyle, typically active at sunrise and resting at sunset, like diurnal animals, similar to humans."

"On this point, cheetahs differ from other feline animals like leopards, tigers, and lions, which are mostly nocturnal and rarely hunt or don't hunt at all during the day."

"If you've seen them in the wildlife programs, you'll notice they're either lying on the ground in deep sleep or leisurely strolling during the daytime."

Bi Fang gently stroked the cheetah's head; its fuzzy ears instinctively fluttered.

"The reasons for these differences haven't been researched, but I guess it might have something to do with cheetahs' characteristics."

"Thanks to cheetahs' efficient hunting and their speed, they don't need to rely too much on ambushing tactics, and it's a wise choice to avoid the active hours of other animals."

"Cheetahs are vulnerable, and by hunting during the day, they face a ten percent chance of having their prey snatched away, let alone during the highly active nighttime."

"In fact, the original purpose of mammals being nocturnal was simply to avoid dinosaurs."

Nocturnal animals usually have developed hearing and a sense of smell, and some species have even developed special visual systems adapted to low-light environments, making it hard for them to function normally during the day.

These traits are evidently selected based on daytime activity for the sake of better survival.

Early mammals were mostly nocturnal, having to limit their activities to the nighttime to avoid dinosaurs active during the day.

Only after the extinction of dinosaurs 60 million years ago could mammals that avoided them start moving around more during the daytime.

Today, many mammals still lack key traits of daytime predators like color vision; most animals are almost colorblind, and their vision is more similar to nocturnal reptiles and birds, demonstrating the remnant traits of nocturnality.

Last year, scholars from University College London and Tel Aviv University used computer algorithms to analyze data of 2415 surviving mammalian species, redrawing the activity patterns of their ancestors from millions of years ago.

The analysis showed that after the extinction of dinosaurs, the ancestors of mammals increased their daytime activity, but this process was actually very slow, with a transition period lasting millions of years consisting of mixed diurnal and nocturnal activity.

And the ancestors of primates, that is, the ancestors of human-like animals, were among the first mammals to switch to a daytime lifestyle.

"Speaking of which, there is something quite interesting."

"The process of human migration and conquest on Earth is also a history of the shrinking living spaces for wild animals."

"Now, human activities occupy 50% to 70% of the Earth's land surface, significantly reducing the activity and migration ranges of global mammals, affecting almost all terrestrial mammals of any size in all regions."

"This has caused some animals to have extremely limited resources, and along with human overhunting of some animals and environmental deterioration caused by human activities, many species have become extinct."

"And the impact of human activities on animals is not just spatial."

"This year's new research indicates that human activities are forcing mammals around the world to become more active at night, showing a trend toward increased nocturnality because only at night are they less likely to encounter humans."

[Wow, are humans the new-age dinosaurs?]

[That's a bit outrageous]

[This can change too?]

The viewers were stunned, as if they had gained new insights.

Bi Fang nodded and said, "Research published in Ugly Country's 'Science' magazine on June 14, 2018, shows that the nocturnality of wild mammals has increased by an average of 1.36 times in response to higher levels of human activity disturbance."

"Regardless of which continent these animals live on, whether they are herbivores or carnivores, their nocturnality has been influenced by human activities."

"For example, in Zimbabwe's Wankie National Park, sable antelopes, which previously were active mainly during the day, now conduct about half of their activities at night."

"Not only does hunting, agriculture, housing, and road construction drive animals into the night, even seemingly non-threatening human outdoor activities like hiking can disturb the life habits of wild mammals. Remember that hiker who encountered a black bear? He managed to drive it away with loud shouts. I suspect it was a female bear, and the man had trespassed into its territory."

"So in the future, we might also see nocturnal cheetahs, if they don't go extinct before then."

"But now, it's time for it to get up."

With that, Bi Fang, who had just been petting the cheetah's head, gave a tap on its forehead.

Harley was instantly awakened from his sleep, opening his eyes with confusion, clearly not understanding what had happened.

Bi Fang also started explaining to the audience.

"In the safe environment provided by humans, Harley's alertness became too poor, and it even developed a habit of oversleeping; these are habits that need to be corrected."

"Cheetahs are diurnal animals, but their main hunting activities still take place in the early morning and dusk, which are the golden moments for hunting."

"Day and night changes allow predators to better observe and monitor animals."

"For animals, hunting is the main activity of the day; we can observe peak periods during dawn and dusk, indicating a dusk preference."

"After dusk, cheetahs choose to rest on the grass, and males and young often roam at night. But as an alert animal, individuals often check their surroundings from observation points, such as hills, taking turns to stay alert."

"Therefore, a normal cheetah typically begins foraging around five in the morning and is quite vigilant as it moves, stopping occasionally to look around to see if there is any prey that can be hunted."

"But now look at Harley. Even with the morning light appearing, it shows no sign of waking up and is even still a bit drowsy."

While saying so, Bi Fang tapped its head again, forcing it to wake up.

Startled from its sleep by Bi Fang, Harley seemed somewhat groggy until the second chestnut hit, at which point it fully woke up, yawned, staggered to its feet from the ground, surveyed its surroundings, and finally raised its head to lean against Bi Fang, its half-closed eyes seemingly asking if it was time to eat.

But immediately after, it felt someone pinch the back of its neck and gradually drag it out of its territory, walking towards the outside of the conservation center.

Today, Bi Fang planned to take Harley out to the grasslands to see, and if possible, it would be time to prepare for its return to the wilderness.

Watching the cheetah being dragged and leaving a trail of dirt, the audience were all dumbfounded.

[How late is it there?]

[Looks like it's 5:30 in Kenya, even earlier than when I woke up in high school.]

[Which high school starts that late? (Dog's head)]

[Morning reading at 5:40, waking up at 5:35 isn't that normal? (Sly)]

[Harley: Never thought I'd have to wake up early in my life.]

[It's like a cold knife to the butt, now it's wide awake.]

Being dragged along until Bi Fang met Old Barry, who had just gotten up. Bi Fang had arranged in advance to go to the grassland with Barry this morning.

Although Barry was not Harley's breeder before, he was familiar with Harley. With him around, they could ensure that any unforeseen incidents could be salvaged.

Together, the two men took Harley out of the conservation area in a small vehicle, and this subadult cheetah seemed to finally wake up completely.

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Harley became excited as it saw the dawn light appear on the edge of the grassland.

Unfortunately, Bi Fang was holding onto the back of its neck, and Harley couldn't run out on its own.

After they had moved far away from the conservation center, Bi Fang got out of the car with Harley, and Barry watched nearby.

As the daylight grew stronger, the details of the entire grassland became quite clear.

However, since the conservation center was close to the outskirts of the city, though this area was vast, there were not many animals.

This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. For a novice like Harley, without animals, there were naturally no powerful enemies, and if it ran away, a certain level of safety could still be guaranteed.

Bi Fang stroked the squatting cheetah, continuously touching its head, and said to the audience, "If previously Harley identified me as a breeder, now I want to see if it considers me a companion and whether it can follow me on the grasslands without running away."

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He looked at Barry, "Has something like this happened before when you took Harley out?"

Barry nodded, "Of course, running on the vast natural plains is the instinct of all animals. The first time Hamid took Harley out, it ran like crazy, like a yellow bolt of lightning. Luckily, it came back on its own in the end. If it runs away this time, I believe the outcome will be the same."

Although Bi Fang made it sound like the consequences could be severe, the closeness of Harley showed that running away was just a minor probability event.

It's just that both parties needed to trust each other further, nothing more.

Old Barry, who had raised animals for decades, had already figured this out and was not worried at all. He didn't even call for other colleagues and came to help alone.

Bi Fang smiled. Actually, at heart, he wasn't so sure in the beginning. The varieties of animals he had raised himself were only that few.

White-fronted Geese were with Étienne.

Goudan and the others, as the most successfully domesticated creatures by humans, didn't have much to worry about.

The wild camel Alpha, though a bit troublesome, was guaranteed by time. Only after the initial taming, a month later, did Bi Fang start to relax his vigilance and develop trust. Before that, even feeding was never done carelessly.

But for Cheetah Harley, they had barely known each other for a week, and he felt uncertain.

If it were like the camel and could simply be harnessed, that would be one thing, but this time, the task was predetermined to be done by letting Harley have its freedom.

At every step, Bi Fang did what he could to the utmost, hoping that matters would indeed turn out as Old Barry had said.

"Generally speaking, a cheetah only kills one prey at a time, and the distance they walk each day is approximately five kilometers, at most a bit over ten kilometers. Even though it's swift, it doesn't travel very far."

"So... even if Harley ends up running off and out of sight, we don't have to worry too much about not being able to find it."

After taking a few deep breaths, Bi Fang slowly released Harley's neck under the watchful eyes of the live stream audience.

For a moment, free from the restraint around its neck, Harley seemed disbelieving, lifting its head and looking back at Bi Fang twice.

Once it confirmed it was indeed free, it paused for two seconds and then stood up under the nervous watch of everyone.

Harley observed its surroundings and took some steps.

While the audience in the live stream was still worried, Bi Fang breathed a sigh of relief, exchanging glances with Old Barry and sharing a smile.

Everyone was puzzled.

Watching the cheetah sniffing around and assessing its environment, a very pleased Bi Fang explained, "Remember I said that cheetahs are very timid creatures. But after I let go, Harley didn't immediately run away, which means this is a safe zone for it psychologically and it truly sees me as a companion, a trustworthy companion indeed."

Old Barry stepped forward, reached out his hand, and shared a high-five with Bi Fang, "So your live stream starts tomorrow?"

"Exactly."

"I'll be watching you guys from the conservation center."

"It'd be even better if you could send some gifts."

"Ha-ha!"