Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 856 - 852: The Old Breeder’s Experience Talk

Lion prides have their own hierarchical structures.

A typical lion pride generally consists of 1 to 6 adult male lions, 3 to 12 adult female lions, and several cubs.

Most lion prides have about 15 lions, though there are also large prides comprising 30 lions, and small prides with only a few lions are not uncommon, depending on the abundance of prey in their habitat.

There are even alliances like the Bad Boys Alliance, consisting of 6 male lions.

The freedom of association is greater than that of wolf packs.

Because of the lions' highly social nature, their hostility is not as strong towards familiar faces they frequently encounter.

If they are regularly fed, over time, they will even consider humans as part of the pride, as long as no one purposely provokes them by challenging the leader of the pride; even rough play is tolerated.

On the other hand, cheetahs also have a special social structure.

"Wait, are cheetahs sociable? I've never heard of that before."

"As a child, I watched Animal World; aside from mother cheetahs with cubs, it seemed they all lived solitary lives."

"I'm shocked to learn that cheetahs are sociable; it astounds my mom for a whole year."

Upon hearing Bi Fang talk about the sociability of cheetahs, many viewers felt puzzled.

In everyone's mind, wolf packs and lion prides are sociable, but since when are cheetahs?

The only memory is of cheetahs sprinting with prey across the savannah, never seen surrounding prey like wolf packs, right?

"Some do, but unlike the wolf packs and lion prides you've seen, cheetahs have a more loose-knit social structure," Bi Fang reaffirmed his statement.

"In cheetahs, females usually live alone, showing no territorial behavior, but the social and territorial behaviors of males vary greatly."

"They form permanent groups of 2 to 4 individuals, and typically, cheetah hunting teammates are siblings. However, if there is a profit to be made, the group may also include unrelated members who accept strange cheetahs joining, especially in self-defense, to jointly drive away other predators."

"Not only that, when unfamiliar cheetahs meet, they will size each other up, and only if they don't like each other will fighting occur."

"What are you looking at?"

"What about it?"

"Seriously, does this really exist?"

"Moreover, cheetahs have few records of killing their own kind, almost no cheetah kills another of its kind, which is very rare among large felines."

Compared to lion prides, where males often kill the cubs left by other males, cheetahs' behavior is almost angelic.

They do not simply kill each other to defend territory or protect food, nor do they fight violently to compete for mating rights.

"It's so tender; I'm crying."

"When will cheetahs ever be free?"

"Next life, remember to be born into a family with a white scale; not just cheetahs, but lions and tigers can be kept too (Dog's head)."

"Ultimately, it's because cheetahs have high hunting efficiency but are not very strong, they know that getting injured would greatly reduce their hunting success rate."

"There's a saying about cheetahs, 'If it fails to hunt three times, it will perish,' not sure if you have heard of it."

"What does that mean?"

"Never heard of it."

"I think I've heard it was five times?"

"Holy, is it literally what I am thinking?"

"Yes, that's the literal meaning, meaning if a cheetah fails to catch prey three times, its life comes to an end."

Upon hearing this, many viewers were suddenly in an uproar.

Why would failing three times mean death?

"Although this saying is a bit absolute, the real situation isn't much better, as while speed provides cheetahs a significant advantage, it also poses a great safety risk."

"A cheetah in full sprint can reach speeds of 112 km/h, but most of the time, the speed they use in hunting is around 64 km/h; even so, cheetahs cannot run for long periods."

"They are fast but have very poor stamina; exercising builds up a great deal of heat inside their bodies; if they can't expel it promptly, they could be in danger. Therefore, cheetahs often have to stop and rest after a chase."

"In some documentaries, we often see hyenas stealing prey that cheetahs had worked hard to catch, without any resistance from the cheetahs; the reason behind this is because the cheetahs need to rest."

"Cheetahs, after completing a hunt, even if they have caught their prey, will not start eating immediately but choose to rest first because at that point, the cheetahs are too tired to eat."

"Hyenas within the same habitat often seize this opportunity to snatch the cheetah's prey, and the cheetah can only watch helplessly as its meal is taken away."

[Damn, why are there always hyenas around in Africa?]

[They are so strong yet still like to steal from others, that's not honorable!]

[This is nature, bro, who talks about honor with you? The ones who survive are the real bosses.]

"Therefore, scholars studying cheetahs discovered that if a cheetah fails in three consecutive hunts, it might never have the energy to complete another hunt, putting its life in critical danger."

The energy stored in the body is limited, most of which is in the form of fat, but the cheetah's need for speed prevents it from relying on fat for significant energy storage.

Three hunts are the limit before a cheetah completely depletes its energy, and if it cannot eat after these attempts, eventual death awaits.

"Cheetahs have a hunting success rate of 58%, theoretically, they indeed need only two hunts to succeed once."

"But reality is harsh, cheetahs face pressure from other competitors, savanna lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, brown hyenas, etc., are all eyeing them, with a 10% chance of being robbed."

"The survival of cheetahs is entirely through narrow gaps, so cooperative hunting is a wise strategy for them."

On the African Savanna, to carve out a niche for themselves, they need to be either strong enough or cooperate with others, and over the lengthy course of life, cheetahs have gradually developed the habit of hunting cooperatively.

When they go out to search for prey, if several cheetahs meet, they will temporarily form an alliance to hunt together, and after they finish eating the prey, they quickly separate and live individually, cooperating again when the chance arises.

This situation is called "temporary clustering."

Cooperative hunting, undoubtedly, is a wise move, saving energy to capture prey while also somewhat preventing others from stealing the prey.

Thus, it's easy to understand why cheetahs do not attack humans; their nature is to avoid conflicts and trouble, and in interactions between humans and cheetahs, they often leave a friendly and harmless impression.

Possessing both the characteristics of Felinae and sociability, they have truly become the most person-friendly "feline animals."

There have been no recorded incidents of cheetahs attacking humans worldwide.

In many African documentaries, you can see scenes where cheetahs peacefully coexist with people, and some even actively approach tourist vehicles for close contact.

While speaking, Bi Fang stood up and sat down in the center of the cage.

Now, instead of being at the corners, the distance between them was halved.

This action immediately made Harley uneasy, as his body, just satiated and lying down, stood up again, circling continuously against the cage.

"Cheetahs are very timid, a slight noise can scare them off."

"Because they don't have the size and weight advantage like predators such as lions and tigers. In pursuit of ultimate speed, cheetahs sacrifice many abilities typical of feline animals."

"Most cheetahs have a straightforward and naive nature, so they are often bullied by other predators. Additionally, with low survival rates for cubs, the numbers of cheetahs could not expand; combined with severe poaching, this directly led to a drastic reduction in cheetah populations that is difficult to recover."

"To put it in perspective, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 100,000 cheetahs in Africa; by 1975, zoologists once again counted only about 14,000 cheetahs; and by now, the number of cheetahs has dropped by half compared to more than 40 years ago."

"Only about 7,000 cheetahs are now living in the wild."

"On the black market, cheetah cubs are extremely expensive, selling for over thirty thousand Ugly Yuan each, imagine when you see a young, defenseless 'banknote' playing in the grasslands, would you let it go?"

[To be honest, if moving a hand could net two hundred thousand, it's really hard to say (covers face)]

[Seems like those Middle Eastern tycoons have quite many.]

"Because cheetahs are human-friendly, humans have a long history of domesticating cheetahs. As far back as 3000 BC, the Sumerians began taming cheetahs."

"In Ancient Egypt, cheetahs symbolized royal power and prestige. People domesticated cheetahs and brought them close to the Pharaoh, symbolic of protecting the throne."

"Ancient Egyptians also believed that cheetahs could allow the Pharaoh's 'soul to reincarnate'."

"It can be said that historically, those who owned cheetahs were either rich or noble, which might also be a reason why some wealthy individuals still chase after cheetahs today—to highlight their status and prestige."

[By the way, if we want to protect an endangered species, shouldn't we loosen restrictions on their captivity, making them popular pets so they might be removed from the danger of extinction?]

Bi Fang shook his head.

"This is exactly what I mentioned initially, why cheetahs are not suitable to stay in zoos. It's not because they are kings of speed, enjoying running in the savannah, but frankly, all animals have the nature of being fed and clothed."

"The fundamental reason is that cheetahs in captivity struggle to reproduce."

"According to ancient records, Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire in India kept about 9,000 cheetahs during his reign of over forty years, but only one litter of cheetah cubs was born."

The chance of reproduction one in a few thousand, as you can imagine, breeding cheetahs in captivity is almost impossible.

"This is because cheetahs, like the desert cat, fishing cat, and snow leopard, have poor adaptability to changes in their environment, making it likely they won't breed when affected by environmental changes."

"Even with more advanced technology and breeding techniques today, people still cannot achieve stable reproduction of cheetahs under artificial conditions."

"Therefore, in zoos around the world, lions and tigers are commonly seen, but cheetahs are very rare. In Huaxia, there are only about 10 zoos that house cheetahs, and there is almost no news of cheetah cubs being born."

"That's why Harley must learn to hunt and then return to the wild."

"Actually, the reason humans cannot domesticate cheetahs is not because they are ill-tempered, but simply because they cannot reproduce. If this problem were solved, cheetahs could definitely become a more successful domesticated animal than cats, second only to dogs, alas, what a pity."

Bi Fang sighed at this point.

Meanwhile, Harley had been pacing around Bi Fang for a long time. Seeing that the other party was just sitting, he finally seemed to find it boring and lay down again.

Seeing this, Bi Fang smiled.

In less than a day and a half, he had successfully reduced their safety distance to less than ten meters, which was definitely news worth celebrating.

Bi Fang was confident that within three days, he would be able to pet this big cat.

Following that, Bi Fang called for a drone.

"Let's go, we won't pause the live stream today. I'll introduce you to a staff member who has been working here for over twenty years, and let him tell you about the attitudes of lions, tigers, cheetahs, and leopards towards their breeders, and see if cheetahs are indeed the most affectionate."

"Wow, practical knowledge indeed!"

"Awesome, Master Fang even combines theory with practice."

"His name is Zack Sitz Barry; he used to work in a zoo and he was responsible for the breeding of all the animals in the conservation center. I got to know him while wandering around here the past few days."

Then, under the eyes of the audience, Bi Fang found a staff member who was feeding lions.

This staff member looked quite old, with half of his beard already white. Upon seeing Bi Fang, he threw a piece of meat through the iron net and greeted him warmly.

The lion inside the net took the meat and started tearing it apart right there.

Bi Fang took a few glances and then directly stated his purpose.

"Oh, that's why you came," Barry lifted his baseball cap, smiled, "Then you've come to the right person. I've bred not only tigers, lions, bears, leopards, raptors, and dogs but also during my time in the zoo, I handled animals from all over the world, including Africa, and in large numbers."

"Where should we start?"

"Let's start with the tiger."

"Hmm... if raised from a young age, tigers on average are more aggressive toward humans than lions because they are solitary animals by nature and generally do not bond closely with people."

"However, those raised from infancy with lots of cuddles and hugs can be very gentle, but no one in our zoo raises them like that. They are all hungry and there's no time to watch over the little ones every day."

"Only a few individuals are more docile, but that's a minority; most don't care for human interaction. You can't be sure when they might suddenly lash out. A 3-month-old tiger can already cause serious injuries to humans."

"If you try to take away a piece of meat from a 4-month-old tiger, 80% of them will bite you."

"Of course, there are also a few individuals that are gentler. I once had a tiger named Qi Qi, very gentle. If you put your hand in her mouth during feeding, she wouldn't bite but would just silently walk away. I could even touch her paws, and she would just lightly whack me with her tail or turn around to try to scare me."

"In total, of the more than 10 tigers I've raised, only six of them, I am sure, would not attack me."

"What about lions?"

"In some ways, lions are safer around humans than tigers; they are social animals, and you can become a member of their group."

"Still, lions and tigers are both big cats. Big cats' intelligence just doesn't match up to that of dogs and bears, so you can't predict when they might go berserk."

"But overall, lions are a bit safer than tigers, especially the lionesses. Most can be touched, but there are a few male lions with really bad tempers, more fierce and brutal than tigers. Some are friendly with people, might even come up and nuzzle you with their heads then flop down to let you pet them."

"I let people pet most of the lions I've raised without fear; I generally don't bother the male lions as their temperaments are too poor."

"In a lion's eyes, the owner who raised it from cub to adult might be seen as a standing lion."

At this, the audience could not help but laugh.

"What about leopards?"

"Leopards?"

Barry seemed to recall unpleasant memories, then shook his head repeatedly, piquing the audience's curiosity.

"Leopards are almost impossible to bond with. These animals are extremely unstable in character, and even if raised from a cub, they pose a great danger."

"They are more dangerous than lions or tigers, only smaller in size and lesser in intimidating presence. If leopards were the size of lions or tigers, it would be terrifying."

"Their temperaments are incredibly brutal and neurotic, and they have a strong hostility toward humans."

"You can search about India; leopards often sneak into villages to attack livestock and humans. Their behavior is quite abnormal. The few leopards I've raised, even after more than a year, wouldn't let me get too close and were very prone to attacking humans. Any threatening move, and the leopard would immediately puff up."

"At first, I thought I had done something wrong, so I specifically consulted several breeders. They told me that's just the nature of leopards, very unstable."

"It might be due to being oppressed by lions, tigers, and hyenas all year round, which makes them neurotic, seeing no one as a good person."

"In the eyes of the leopard, there are no friends, only enemies and food."

"I can kiss the tigers and lions that are well-raised up close, but never with leopards. I certainly won't get close to them."

"Even if you raise them from a young age, it's practically useless unless you remove their teeth or sterilize them. It might help a bit, but don't even think about it normally."

[Wow, leopards are that ferocious?]

[Neurotic, this description makes me a bit scared]

[No wonder I've never seen Middle Eastern tycoons keeping leopards. They're scared too, haha]

"What about bears?"

"Hmm..." Barry pondered for a moment, "Bears are very intelligent."

"The black bears and brown bears I keep can turn on taps to drink water. They also drag their feeding troughs to the feeding area, and I can hand-feed some of the smarter ones. They know not to bite."

"In short, it's not really a question of whether they are affectionate or not, but that they are highly intelligent and can accurately differentiate breeders from other people."

"However, one day, since bears are virtually blind, they rely heavily on their strong sense of smell and hearing, especially smell, to identify whether it is their breeder or not."

"Also, everyone must be careful not to stick your hands into cages to feed bears at the zoo. No, this applies to all animals."

"Many naïve bears can't differentiate whether it's your hand or food. They might just chew off your hand."

"If we're talking about raising them from a young age, bears are definitely stronger than tigers because of their high intelligence. Personally, I feel it's similar to raising a lioness from a cub."

"But bears become very irritable and aggressive during their mating season."

"Overall, if bears are raised from a young age, theoretically, they can be raised to be quite well-behaved, after all, bears are closely related to canines."

"If we must say which is more docile, I personally feel brown bears are slightly calmer than black bears, just slightly."

"Also, because bears are extremely intelligent, they often steal food from humans, making them a significant threat to people. So don't think bears are cuddly and start petting them carelessly."

"What about the cheetah then?"

Finally, Bi Fang asked about the cheetah, which was the ultimate purpose of this discussion.

"Ha, cheetahs, compared to the others, are just like little spirits."

Barry laughed heartily.

"I feel they are similar to cats, ambitious, but not too much, and if compared, not as much as dogs, probably similar to a tamed wolf."

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"Wolves are very sensitive and delicate animals. I once had a fat wolf that was ostracized by the pack and became depressed, losing all its fur on its tail."

"I had to play with it every day for it to get better, and eventually, I mixed this pack of wolves together again."

"If raised from a young age, wolves are as affectionate as dogs, but their obedience is far lower than dogs, as dogs have been domesticated while wolves have not."

"If not raised from a young age, wolves are very fearful of humans and can be aggressive. They get better over time, so I think cheetahs and wolves are quite similar."

"In the eyes of a wolf, a person who raises it from young is a genuine old wolf standing on two legs, both fools are clams on the same string."

"Overall, wolves and cheetahs are the safest and most affectionate among these predators, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Golden retrievers have been known to cause serious injuries, let alone wolves."

"Everyone must never think that predators are very safe. I can clearly tell you that it takes less than 10 seconds for a tiger or lion to kill a person."

"Bears kill slower, sometimes even eating a person alive bit by bit."

"These predators are inherently very dangerous. Don't be deceived by their momentarily cute appearance. Alright, that's pretty much all I know. Asking me to distinguish based on animal structure would be too hard; I only have some experience."

After Barry finished speaking, he pushed the cart loaded with meat chunks and left the place.

He still had to go to the next location to feed.

[Just some experience]

[That experience is extremely rich though]

[So awesome, the conservation centers are full of hidden masters]

[And Master Fang, really knows everything. You're just twenty-six, and this guy must be over fifty]

[Indeed, I can still watch twenty more years of live streams (laugh)]

On the third morning, after his second feeding session, Bi Fang finally felt that he could start making some physical contact with Harley.