Imagine locking eyes with a snow leopard – its gaze fierce yet fragile, a living testament to the harsh beauty of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. At Xining’s Qinghai-Xizang Plateau Wildlife Park, CGTN’s Yang Xinmeng did just that, meeting Ling Bufu and Ling Xiaozhe, two snow leopards whose survival stories are rewriting what it means to thrive against the odds. 🏔️
Ling Bufu, once crushed by a yak, became China’s first snow leopard to undergo groundbreaking nose surgery. Meanwhile, Ling Xiaozhe – rescued as a malnourished cub – now dashes across enclosures like the ‘plateau wind’ he’s nicknamed after. These aren’t just zoo animals; they’re survivors wearing their scars like badges of honor. 🩹✨
But this park isn’t your average wildlife center. Staff call it a ‘hospital for the wild’ – a place where Pallas’s cats blink lazily in the sun and sand cats (the world’s deadliest small felines!) learn to trust humans again. ❤️🩹 Despite limited resources, the team’s dedication has made it a lifeline for over 200 animals since 2021.
🌬️ ‘When you watch them here, under these endless skies,’ says a keeper, ‘you feel the plateau itself breathing.’ For these animals, every sunrise is a victory – and Xining’s guardians are making sure they see thousands more.
