Chapter 115

"That doesn't seem right," Shi Wen said, surprised. "Goats don't have very good night vision, so they shouldn't specifically choose to come over at night to eat their goji berries."

Yan Kexing: "Perhaps someone chased them away during the day, and over time, the wild goats learned to be clever."

Shi Wen said, "That's possible."

Shi Wen said to the old man, "Could you take us to see the scene? I'll see if we can find any wild goat tracks. If we can, we can follow them to their hiding place."

A young man translated his words, and the old man immediately waved for them to follow.

A large group of people followed the old man around the yard and headed into the wolfberry field, which was enclosed by a fence.

This area is relatively arid. Although a large part of it is Gobi Desert, some areas are soft sandy soil. As long as there is no strong wind, wild animals may leave their footprints.

In the goji berry garden, heavy black goji berries are hidden among the leaves, looking very tempting.

It's such a pity that such good goji berries have been ruined by wild animals.

Shi Wen glanced at the goji berries, then carefully examined the footprints on the ground, and the more he looked, the more something seemed off.

How did he find horse hoofprints on the ground? Did this family own a horse and use it to carry the goji berries they picked?

But that shouldn't be the case; if a horse were used to carry it, the horseshoe marks would be very clearly visible.

There were no traces of horseshoes in the horses' footprints.

They look like wild horses.

Shi Wen instinctively sensed that something inside was beyond his expectations.

Before he could speak, the old man gestured for them to look, saying that the ground was littered with traces left by wild animals, and that there were also bite marks on the goji berry trees.

After Shi Wen to the translation, Shi Wen asked doubtfully, "There doesn't seem to be any mention of wild goats here. I feel like it's a herd of horses that's eating goji berries here?"

Yan Kexing translated Shi Wen's words, and the old man shook his head repeatedly, Shi Wen and said a few words.

Yan Kexing said, "The old man said they haven't seen any Wanderer horses here for a long time. Even if there were a herd of horses, how much could a few horses eat? It's mostly the wild goats that are causing the problem."

Before he could finish speaking, the old man beside him launched into another speech.

Yan Kexing translated. "The old man said the wild goats outside are particularly fierce; he's seen them several times, but he can't catch them. It must be wild goats that have come to gnaw on them."

Shi Wen still believed in his professional abilities. "In my opinion, it's most likely not a wild goat, but some other animal. How about this, let's set off now and follow these footprints to find out what it is?"

No one objected to this statement.

The young man traveling with us said, "Maybe some Wanderer horses came and ate these goji berries, covering up the hoofprints of the wild goats. So we think it's probably more horses that came?"

Shi Wen, "That's possible. Let's go look and find out."

Their region is particularly arid; once you leave the human settlements, all that's outside is an endless expanse of Gobi Desert and low, rolling hills.

Only a few wild grasses, such as reeds, can survive here; otherwise, you wouldn't see any signs of life at all.

Shi Wen even felt that these landscapes and conditions didn't seem to be on Earth, but rather on an alien planet like Mars.

Once they reached the Gobi Desert, they couldn't walk anymore; the road was too long. They could only follow the footprints and drive around.

Every now Shi Wen would get out and try to determine where the group of wild animals might have gone based on the tracks on the ground.

After several attempts, they found more than a dozen yellow-backed animals in the mountains that looked somewhat like --

Shi Wen could even process what it was, the young man behind him exclaimed, "Isn't that a Tibetan wild ass?"

Yes, it looks somewhat like a Tibetan wild ass.

However, it doesn't seem to be Tibetan wild asses; Shi Wen always felt that group of animals looked rather strange.

Just as he hesitated, Yan Kexing behind him spoke up calmly, "It looks like a herd of Przewalski's horses."

The young man blurted out, "Impossible!"

Yan Kexing: "Report this to your superiors, saying that I mentioned there's a herd of wild Przewalski's horses ahead."

Shi Wen him say that I finally remembered the Przewalski's horse.

Yes, there's a herd of Przewalski's horses ahead. They look a bit like Tibetan wild asses, and some people even confuse the two.

But--

Shi Wen said, "Weren't the wild horses in our area said to be extinct?"

There are fewer Przewalski's horses than wild giant pandas.

This area was one of the origins of Przewalski's horses, but they eventually disappeared due to large-scale hunting and poaching from abroad.

In the 1980s, under the guidance of relevant leaders, Przewalski's horses were introduced from abroad and bred. Finally, Przewalski's horses were brought back to the local area.

After breeding and rewilding, a small number of Przewalski's horses were released back into the wild, but only a few hundred of them were actually released.

Shi Wen some idea of where they've been put; they're definitely not here.

Yan Kexing said, "Yes, so this batch of wild horses is probably the legendary extinct Przewalski's horse, rather than the batch introduced from abroad."

Shi Wen looked shocked. "We actually encountered such a legendary animal?"

Chapter 115

In the 1970s and 1980s, China sent several groups of experts to form expedition teams to conduct in-depth investigations in various Przewalski's horse habitats. Satellites and drones were also used, but no Przewalski's horses could be found.

Therefore, the academic community unanimously believes that wild Przewalski's horses are extinct in China, or at least functionally extinct, as their gene pool cannot support their reproduction and survival.

Yan Kexing the young man to report to the leadership, which immediately startled many bigwigs across the country.

In less than ten minutes, Yan Kexing's phone started ringing off the hook, and all of them were calls he couldn't refuse.

However, before he could even finish speaking to one call, he was quickly interrupted by another phone call.