Camel Prince

My Tibetan guide Qiangba and I set up a cowhide tent on the ancient post road at the northern foot of the Rizhuka Snow Mountain, and also set up a lookout on a spruce tree, which is considered a wildlife observation station. 　

The long-abandoned ancient stage road winds intermittently from east to west, like a line dividing yin and yang. To the left of the old post, the road is a desert of yellow sand and gravel, which is called "Gobi Sandbar" on the map and "The Dead Sea" by local mountain people. On the right side of the ancient post road, the stream is murmuring, the green grass is green, and the flowers are fragrant, which is called "the boat of life" of Ga-Mar grassland. 　

The special geographic location and climate of the Nujiang River Canyon make it a place with a wide variety of wildlife. There are peacocks and pythons in the subtropics, bobcats and otters in the temperate zones, snow leopards that live above the snow line all year round, and Bengal tigers that live on the Pamir Plateau. This is a feng shui piece of land for zoologists like me, who are engaged in animal behavior research. 　

The sun was like blood, adding a bit of desolation and terror to the Gobi sandbar. A few clumps of decaying grass, shivering in the dusk. The sunset was like a rainbow, painting the Ga-Mar grassland with a layer of rouge, and a few flowering trees, beautiful and beautiful, indescribably beautiful. 　

I stood on the gap lookout of the spruce trees, admiring the beauty of nature. 　

Suddenly, the roar of wild animals came from the silent Gobi sandbar. The roar came from far and near, one after another. I raised my binoculars to observe. Oh, it was a male and a female snow leopard chasing a small herd of wild camels. 　

The male snow leopard was magnificent with his silvery-white fur studded with reddish-brown rings, while the female snow leopard was slightly slimmer with a long tail like the unbroken snow and ice of Meili Snow Mountain, dazzlingly white. 　

Five wild camels were being chased by the snow leopard, four adult camels plus one semi-large camel. The half-sized camel had one of its hind legs scratched by the leopard's claws and was so frightened that it stumbled and foamed at the corners of its mouth, seemingly unable to run. 　

The two snow leopards attacked the camel from the left and right, the female roaring a ten-alarm roar to attract the attention of the adult camel and the male using the cover of a bush to try to separate the half-sized camel from the herd. The two snow leopards worked well together, and it was clear that they were a couple with a lot of hunting experience. It was clear that the four adult camels would soon be able to get away from the snow leopards by running forward with their heads in the sand. The two snow leopards had already targeted the half-sized camel, and as soon as it fell alone, the snow leopard, known as the "snow killer", would immediately pounce on it. Once the snow leopard is successful in its hunt and has food to eat, it will stop hunting other prey. 　

It is the best survival strategy to give up an individual for the safety of the whole group. 　

A male camel with a crooked front hump and another female with fur like dead grass in autumn have run ahead, and a gap has opened up on the left side of the wounded half-sized camel. The male snow leopard twisted and turned sharply, trying to get around to the left side to pounce on his target. Just then, an old camel with hair on its chest and neck, wrinkled between its eyelids, raised its face and barked. As if on command, the crooked-horned male and autumn grass female camels that had fled ahead stopped running and quickly turned and ran back to the half-grown camels to close the gap. The four adult camels slowed down and surrounded the wounded immature camel from front to back. 　

I naturally concluded that this was a herd of wild camels that were related to each other. In nature, when a herd of animals is attacked by a fierce animal, they will not rescue or cover each other, but only those who are close to each other will rescue each other on the way to escape. 　

When the herd of camels reached about 50 to 60 meters away from the spruce tree where I was hiding, the semi-large camel probably had a painful leg wound and was limping, pausing after a few steps and barely walking for a while before it was exhausted and could not walk anymore. The four adult camels, with their tails facing in and their heads facing out, formed a protective circle around the half-sized camel, barking, raising their hooves, and opening their mouths to nibble at the snow leopard. 　

The two snow leopards also stopped and sat crouched on the gravel about ten meters away from the camels to catch their breath. 　

I knew that this standoff would not last long and that within a few minutes the two leopards would slow down and pounce on the camels. Although the four adult camels formed a circle and laid out a peculiar formation, this defense system might work against medium-sized beasts like golden cats and lynxes, but against two snow leopards, it was fragile. 　

The wild camel is a large herbivore. In terms of size, an adult wild camel is equivalent to two or three adults who will not collapse, while a snow leopard will collapse on the ground after running for one or two dozen miles continuously. However, the wild camel cannot compete with the snow leopard. When faced with a beast like the snow leopard, the camel is not as resilient as a bison, donkey, or wild boar. The bison have sharp horns on their heads, and several of them form a circle with their tails facing inwards and their heads facing outwards, with their sharp horns waving in front of the eyes of their natural enemies, which can intimidate the snow leopard. The donkeys are small and flexible, good at kicking back, and can continuously kick the enemy with their hind hooves, which are as powerful as hammers. Therefore, when a large group of wild donkeys with their heads facing inwards and tails facing outwards form a circle and a formation, with their hooves knocking on the ground like war drums, the snow leopard will often retreat. The wild boar has terrible tusks in its mouth, especially the male boar, which has the spirit of a desperate trio and dares to fight to the death against strong enemies. The wild camel has neither horns to use as weapons nor tusks to chill. Although the camel's hooves are large and the soles of its feet have a thick layer of hard keratin that can kick and stomp, the camel is too heavy to stumble, so it cannot use its hooves as an effective self-defense weapon. So it is safe to say that when a wild camel encounters a large beast, it will be difficult to escape being pounced on, bitten, and eaten unless a miracle occurs. 　

As I expected, after a short respite, the two snow leopards started to attack the camels. The snow leopards are the smartest and most resourceful hunters in the snowy mountain region. They adopt harassment tactics, suddenly leaping up to the wild camel and slapping the crooked male camel on the neck, not waiting for the other side to open their mouths to nibble or for the wild camel to reinforce them, and then they immediately spin the leopard waist to play a golden cicada and slip away. After a while, they attacked the female camel in the autumn grass. The clumsy camels were passive and defenseless in front of the able-bodied snow leopards. After a while, three of the four adult camels were wounded, some with scratches on their necks, some with their chest hair pulled out, and some with their faces torn. There were only two ways for the camels to go: abandon the half-sized camel and the four adults could escape before it was too late, or be tortured by the snow leopard and die with the four adults and the half-sized camel. 　

However, after a few more minutes, the four adult camels seemed to have no intention of abandoning the half-large camel and remained in their position, wailing and whining, vainly using their hooves to fend off the leopard's attack. 　

It seems that they are determined to die together. It was silly and, of course, touching. 　

Suddenly, a novel idea popped into my head: try to chase away the two snow leopards and save these wild camels from the brink of death ............