Early the next morning, Gong Jingfan and Wang Bing went to the zoo. The place where the leopards were housed was a large round enclosure surrounded by a wire fence. Inside, there were rockeries and ponds for the leopards and cheetahs to play in. At this time, two cheetahs were chasing and playing around the rockeries.
"Oh, it's just like a cat, huh!" said Wang Bing.
Gong Jingfan (also referred to as Lao Gong) read the introduction on the sign. These two cheetahs were from West Africa and were twin brothers. As the weather was getting hotter, it was almost the mating season for leopards. The zoo staff said that in a while, they would be sent to a large wildlife conservation base in Southern Yunnan to mate with female leopards.
"Normally, a wild animal that has killed a human should be put down humanely. But since it's an endangered species, that's a different story!" said Gong Jingfan.
"Why put it down humanely?" Wang Bing asked, puzzled.
"Because it has tasted human flesh. It might pass this knowledge on to its offspring, and then the whole group will know that humans are prey. That's very dangerous."
In most cases, wild animals don't harm humans, unless their territory is invaded or they are defending themselves.
But there was a man - eating leopard in India that killed over two hundred people. Once these animals realize that humans are weak and easier to prey on than cattle and sheep, they'll keep repeating the same behavior. Beasts have no mercy.
Gong Jingfan thought that the imprisonment and punishment of criminals seemed to follow the same logic.
"Officers, you're here!" Keeper Xiao Ye came over, pushing a small wheelbarrow with a smile. The wheelbarrow was covered with a tarpaulin, and blood was dripping from it. It seemed to be full of meat.
"Hello," Gong Jingfan greeted. "Is everything okay here?"
"Yes, thanks to you, things are back to normal. But I got half a month's salary docked. Sigh!"
"It's not your fault!"
"The zoo director can't admit it was his fault, right?" Xiao Ye waved his hand. "Just joking. What're you guys here for today?"
"We want to take some hair and saliva samples from A Jie."
"What for?"
The news of the leopard killing a person had spread like wildfire on the Internet last night. Gong Jingfan thought there was no need to hide it, so he said, "It killed a man."
"Really... really!?" Xiao Ye looked shocked.
"We're still investigating. We have to trouble you with the sampling."
"Sure! Follow me!"
Xiao Ye led them through a door hidden behind a rockery and went underground. Along the way, he kept asking about A Jie killing the man. He was worried that he would be held responsible or that A Jie would be "disposed of". Gong Jingfan said, "Don't worry. We're just verifying. These animals are state - owned property and endangered species. Policemen also have no right to dispose of them at will."
"Sigh, it's our responsibility. We didn't take good care of it. Have the victim's family asked for compensation?"
"We haven't been able to contact them. The victim seemed to live alone."
"It's really unfortunate that this happened. I've watched A Jie grow up. It's always been gentle. Maybe that man scared it. By the way, excuse my nosiness. Did it eat anything it shouldn't have, like something from the man's body... I'm worried it might get sick!"
"The forensic scientist found that half of the man's liver was torn off. I suggest you get a veterinarian to check it out."
Gong Jingfan said that the keeper's words had reminded him of a detail. He planned to ask for another piece of the leopard's feces to take back for testing later.
The three of them came to an underground breeding room. Xiao Ye opened the large freezer and put the meat from the cart inside. It was all fresh beef, mutton, liver, and whole chickens. Generally, leopards are not fed pork because pigs are omnivores, and their raw meat may contain parasites.
Xiao Ye set aside a large piece of beef and a whole leg of lamb, and sprinkled some nutritional powder on them. Wang Bing exclaimed, "Wow, they eat better than people!"
"They're so picky! They only eat mountain goat meat for mutton and grain - fed beef. Sometimes they also eat fish, dried fish to be exact, to supplement taurine, which is good for their eyes." Xiao Ye said, with a doting look on his face as if he were introducing a spoiled cat at home.
"Does it like salty food?" Gong Jingfan asked.
"Oh no, it can't eat that!" Xiao Ye waved his hands repeatedly. "It'll get nephritis, so the zoo strictly prohibits visitors from feeding the animals."
"I mean, does it like to eat, say, salty snacks?"
"I don't know about that. But once, a girl threw some beef jerky, and it ate it with great pleasure. Maybe it's just like people. The more salty snacks it is, the more they like it. There's nothing we can do!"
Xiao Ye put the prepared food into an iron bucket, and took the collection tools from Gong Jingfan. Gong Jingfan said, "Please collect hair, saliva, and feces for us!"
"Collecting feces might be a bit tricky. I'll check if they pooped this morning."
"Okay!"
After leaving the breeding room, there was a long corridor with an iron - barred gate every few meters. Xiao Ye stopped in front of one of the gates. Behind it was a four - square - meter space, and there was a hole on the right. Roars of leopards came from that hole. Only then did Gong Jingfan realize that this iron gate led directly to the leopard mountain.
Xiao Ye unlocked the door, and the chains clattered to the ground. He said, "You two go back first. I'm afraid they'll get scared when they see strangers."
Gong Jingfan warned, "Be careful! Do you need to wear protective gear?"
"Hey, no need for that!"
Normally, they just need to feed the leopards through the iron gate. But today, because Xiao Ye needed to collect samples, he had to go inside, which made Gong Jingfan very worried.
After Xiao Ye opened the iron gate and went in, the two of them waited for about twenty minutes. Xiao Ye came out, sweating profusely, and handed the bucket to Gong Jingfan, saying, "It's all in here!"
Gong Jingfan took a look and smiled wryly. "There's so much!"
After getting the specimens inside, the two of them took their leave.
Back at the police station, Wang Bing took the specimens to the forensic department. Gong Jingfan dropped by to "visit" Di Zhen.
Di Zhen was still sitting casually on the iron bed. He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps. Gong Jingfan said, "You keep your eyes closed all day long. What on earth are you doing? Practicing some internal martial arts technique?"
"No, I'm reading a book."
"Reading a book? Where's the book?"
Di Zhen pointed to his head. Gong Jingfan scoffed, not believing that if one had memorized the whole book, it could still be called reading.
"You stink of animals." Di Zhen sniffed. "Just came back from the zoo?"
"Yes, collecting samples for testing."
"
"Any progress?"
"It won't be that fast. We haven't even identified the deceased yet. All we know is that his name is Zhang Mu."
"I have some thoughts about this case..."
"Hey, did you just say Zhang Mu?" The big guy next door excitedly leaned on the railing. "Is it the Second Brother Zhang who lives in Four Alley?"
Gong Jingfan looked at this swindler with annoyance. "You know him?"
"Is something wrong with Second Brother? You said the deceased is Zhang Mu. Was he killed!?"
"We're still investigating. Tell us what you know."
"Well!" The big guy said animatedly. "When it comes to Second Brother Zhang in Four Alley, he's a well - known figure in Jiangxia!"