I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 483: The Golden Eagle Descends

Climbing the mountain was exhaustingly tough, and descending left them gasping for breath.

Sitting in the car, both of them drank some spiritual water to catch their breaths, and continued on the bumpy mountain road.

Fang Ye wasn’t disappointed for not seeing the snow leopard, as the biodiversity in the Angsai area is quite rich. Aside from the popular animals like Pallas’s cat and Tibetan fox, there were others like pikas, bharal, Himalayan vulture, and common raven, which gave him a sense that there was more to see than he could take in.

Himalayan vultures and bearded vultures are not very afraid of people!

Perhaps it’s because they often circle in the sky and have more chances to see humans and vehicles.

When they stopped on the road to look for snow leopard tracks in the valley, some Eurasian griffon vultures flew over, opening their nearly three-meter wingspan like gliders, circling over their heads and observing them.

Eurasian griffon vultures are the largest and most numerous birds of prey around here. They are the scavengers of the plateau, feasting on leftovers from the snow leopard’s prey, like bharal, or on dead livestock.

There was even a particularly bold Eurasian griffon vulture that, seeing Lan Li resting on the ground, descended from the sky to a spot about twenty or thirty meters away from her and sneakily inched closer, craning its neck as if checking whether she was dead and edible.

After being tipped off by Fang Ye, Lan Li turned her head in surprise towards the Eurasian griffon vulture, which then, disappointed, flapped its wings and flew away.

Although cinereous vultures and Eurasian griffon vultures are birds of prey, they are scavengers and do not eat living creatures.

Explore new worlds at novelbuddy

In some zoos, cinereous vultures are cohabited with ducks and swans, and to those unaware, it’s quite surprising to see these raptors peacefully coexisting with ducks and geese, which could be food – this relies on the scavenging nature of the vultures.

Another kind of bird that isn’t very afraid of people is the Oriental magpie!

Amid the mountains, their noisy chattering can often be heard.

The Qinghai-Tibetan Oriental magpies here are more adapted to the plateau life, with tails slightly shorter than the typical magpies, shimmering in a lovely blue and gold under the sun, with their tail feathers flashing a hint of emerald green.

During their lunchtime, a small flock of Oriental magpies flew over and quietly stayed nearby.

Duoji said, "These Oriental magpies flying over probably want to wait for us to leave to see if there will be any leftover food scraps! They have a varied diet and eat just about everything."

Fang Ye laughed and said, "It looks like they’re going to be disappointed!"

Normally, taking one’s garbage away on a self-driving tour is basic, but in these remote plateau areas without supervision, it really depends on the integrity of the tourists.

Some scenic highways, over the years, with increasing self-driving tours, have been littered with drink bottles, snack wrappers, and various trash by the roadside. In remote areas that are difficult to clean, the beautiful scenery is significantly marred, which is a pity.

Although Angsai is remote, every household has an ecological guardian, and the Tibetan people know the importance of respecting nature and not polluting the mountains, forests, and lakes. After training, their awareness of environmental protection is even higher.

From Yushu to Angsai, there are tent-shaped garbage recycling stations every 5 kilometers along the roadside.

The locals pick up any litter they see on the road and are accustomed to "waste sorting," keeping the environment beautiful and avoiding the trash pileup seen in other Tibetan areas.

After eating for a while, a little Oriental magpie flew directly onto Fang Ye’s hat and began chattering.

Fang Ye shook his head, nodded up and down, yet didn’t shoo it away, and said with a bit of fun, "Why are you so bold?"

Qunan and Duoji both looked on in surprise, with Qunan babbling something.

Duoji said, "Qunan says that in all these years he’s never seen a magpie fly directly onto someone. You must be a person blessed and favored by the sacred mountain."

Lan Li covered her mouth, laughing, not surprised in the least.

Well, it’s normal for animals to want to be close and affectionate to an archdruid like her.

This area is a valley with a river flowing through, so the wildlife is even richer, and there are always stories unfolding here.

```

A group of marmots stayed by the entrance of their burrow, two large ones and three small ones, probably a marmot family!

The mother marmot lay on the edge of the burrow, half her body exposed, with a small marmot behind her, arms wrapped around the mother, pushing against her back as if they were frolicking and playing.

The father marmot crouched by the burrow, lifting his head to watch vigilantly in the opposite direction.

Two other small marmots sniffed around on the ground, exploring their surroundings and nibbling on some grass, but they didn’t stray far from the burrow.

Further away, a Tibetan fox lay in the crevices of the meadow, its large face intently fixated on the marmot family.

Fang Ye even felt its mouth water with eager anticipation!

Although the Tibetan fox preys on marmots, the marmots are not much smaller than the fox itself and usually live in groups; with sharp teeth that clench tightly and never let go, they are not easy to provoke.

The Tibetan fox observed patiently for a while, probably waiting to see if any of the young marmots would stray far enough to become isolated.

However, the little ones were all quite cautious, and, seeing no opportunity, the Tibetan fox stealthily slipped away.

The relationship between the Tibetan fox and marmots is not simply that of predator and prey; the Tibetan foxes themselves do not dig burrows and as it is very tiring to do so on the plateau, they typically look for marmot dens and occupy them if they can drive the marmots away.

Including the Pallas’s cat, life is not easy without the marmot burrows.

The ecological system is a chain where each link connects to the next.

Fang Ye, holding his binoculars, also saw a group of seven or eight common ravens tumbling in the air, making a coarse and deep "caw-caw" clamor as they attacked a bird of prey.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

They looked brash as if to say, "This is our turf! Hand over the protection fee!"

"Hey, look over there on that cliffside!"

Upon closer examination, they saw the nape of the raptor glowing golden in the sunshine, with a conspicuous white patch under its wings.

Fang Ye wasn’t sure at first, but after a look with the Eye of Observation, he confirmed it was a golden eagle, the so-called sovereign of the skies.

The ravens looked not much smaller than the golden eagle, being around 60-70cm in length, and they were a bunch of common ravens!

The common raven itself is also one of the sky’s dominators, often bullying other birds of prey.

If the golden eagle could be compared to a martial artist, then the ravens were like a gang of street thugs; they couldn’t defeat it one-on-one but would gang up and keep hitting the eagle when together, which would not be at all unusual.

The golden eagle struggled amidst the raven’s assault, looking somewhat embarrassed.

It flew to a protruding rock on the cliffside, perched on the rock wall. With the terrain advantage preventing a pincer attack, the ravens didn’t have much they could do to it.

The golden eagle rested for a while, recovering its strength.

Then it took flight again, wings folded at its sides, its sleek form and sharp head resembling a missile and a menacing bomber, it plunged from the cliff into the valley at high speed!

Lan Li’s eyes widened in amazement, "Wow! That dive is so cool!"

Fang Ye also exclaimed in admiration, "That’s their hunting technique, so awesome!"

Mid-dive, the golden eagle opened its wings, soared towards the sky, then plunged downward again.

It traced an elegant and swift wavelike path in the sky!

After several dives, it shook off the common ravens and flew off into the distance.

```