But the massive mother bear he anticipated, which could rush out from the darkness at any mont, never appeared.
And that little fellow, after struggling with the stone slab for ages, seed to have exhausted its strength as well.
It lay powerless beside the snow pit, its body curled into a ball, instinctively digging a shallow snow hole to bury itself, leaving only a small tuft of white fur exposed.
"It’s digging a snow cave, which is an instinctive behavior for bears to resist cold winds when they have nowhere to hide," Lin Yu’an explained softly to the cara, his expression grave, his attention unwavering.
He didn’t sleep, just stayed in the shelter and observed throughout the entire night.
All his senses were heightened to the extre, like a bowstring drawn taut, ready at any mont to respond to potential deadly threats.
Until the sky began to brighten, after hours of observing and waiting, the mother bear he imagined never appeared.
The first grayish-white light of dawn finally allowed him to see the little fellow’s full appearance clearly.
It was very small, its body length estimated at less than a ter, its weight certainly not exceeding fifteen kilograms.
Though its fur was fluffy, it couldn’t hide the weak fra beneath. Its head was proportionally large compared to its body, and its muzzle was very short, all typical features of a cub.
"Now we can make a more precise judgnt," Lin Yu’an’s tone beca very definitive, like that of an experienced wildlife expert, beginning to give a scientific analysis.
"Judging by its size and developntal stage, its age is about two to two and a half months. This is the most fragile period in a polar bear cub’s life, when they rely heavily on their mother."
"Polar bears exhibit strong maternal instincts, particularly in a cub’s first year. It’s impossible for a cub just over two months old to be left for more than a few hours while the mother is foraging."
"Because it’s too small, it doesn’t have the ability to survive independently, nor the ans to defend against predators. More importantly, it needs to feed on high-fat milk every few hours to maintain its body temperature."
"If a mother polar bear rely goes hunting nearby, she would typically hide the cub in a makeshift snow hole and not stray far from it."
"She wouldn’t leave her cub exposed on the open snowfield for an entire night. It doesn’t align with polar bears’ behavioral logic."
Lin Yu’an’s gaze swept over the lonely snowfield outside the shelter, where, apart from the little cub’s own chaotic footprints, there were no other traces.
He slowly voiced his conclusion, "There are only two possible explanations."
"The first and most likely one is that its mother t with misfortune. Perhaps she was severely injured while fighting a walrus during a hunt or fell into an ice crevice, unable to return."
"The second possibility, harsher still, is that this weak cub has been deliberately abandoned by its mother."
"In situations of extre food scarcity, a mother bear may make such a painful yet natural law-aligned decision to ensure the survival of her stronger offspring."
"Regardless of the possibility, both point to the sa fact: this little fellow is now an orphan."
"Last night, it was rely attracted by the sll of food and made a last survival attempt by digging its snow pit."
A complex emotion replaced the feeling in Lin Yu’an’s heart, seemingly recalling his own growth experiences. The previous fear of facing a top predator was gone.
After contemplating for a long ti, Lin Yu’an made a decision, took out the satellite phone, and pressed the ergency contact button.
This was the first ti he proactively contacted the program team since entering the competition, but not to withdraw from the match.
After a few delayed beeps, the signal connected, and from the other end, the voice of the program’s chief producer, Mark, ca through, filled with undisguised shock and a hint of disappointnt.
"Lin? Is that you? My God, are you really going to use your one and only help call now?" Mark’s speech was rapid.
"Listen, there are only twenty days left! Twenty days, and you’ll win this challenge and make history! Are you sure you want to quit now? What happened?"
Lin Yu’an could imagine Mark pacing anxiously in the control room, calmly interrupting him: "Mark, listen to , I’m not quitting."
"Then you..."
"I just have a reason I must make this call," Lin Yu’an’s voice was low but extraordinarily calm.
"Listen to , there’s a polar bear outside my shelter."
"WTF!" Mark’s voice instantly elevated by eight octaves, followed by the sharp noise of a chair being quickly pushed back in the background.
"What did you say? Polar bear? Lin, you’re not joking, are you? Listen, stay inside the shelter and don’t move!"
"Do not go out! You must use the bear gun and bear repellent spray first, do not shoot it with a bow and arrow!"
"Now imdiately open the ergency kit provided by the program team, pry open the compartnt inside it, there’s a large caliber handgun there..."
"Mark! Calm down, let finish!" Lin Yu’an emphasized, interrupting Mark’s panic.
"It’s not what you think, it’s not an adult bear, it’s a cub, very, very small. I estimate at most just two months old. But I didn’t expect you guys to keep such a secret; does every contestant’s ergency kit have a handgun?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, clearly as Mark processed this information, "Oh, FU*K, Lin, you almost gave a heart attack! A polar bear cub? Then where’s its mother?"
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