After the Leopard's escape from the zoo in April, Hangzhou formulated new regulations: the implementation of digital tracking and positioning methods such as the implantation of positioning chips for birds of prey and beasts.
Experts believe that most of the proposed measures can be achieved, and digital security management is the right direction for development, but chip installation needs to be discussed.
Beijing News recently, Hangzhou issued the "Implementation Opinions of the General Office of Hangzhou Municipal People's Government on Further Strengthening and Standardizing Zoo Management (Draft for Soliciting Comments)" (referred to as "Draft for Soliciting Comments"), which proposed a number of measures for the management of zoos. .
Strengthen the construction of infrared monitoring and alarm systems
Regarding the daily management of the zoo, the "Draft for Comments" mentioned that it is necessary to use digital and information methods to strengthen the daily management and supervision of the zoo.
In accordance with the relevant technical regulations for zoo management, strengthen the digital management of the zoo, especially the digital safety management, especially the construction of security video, infrared monitoring and alarm systems for animal cages, exhibition areas, and tourist areas.
At the same time, strengthen the digital management of stock animals, and implement digital tracking and positioning methods such as the implantation of positioning chips for birds of prey and predators.
In terms of zoo safety management, the "Draft for Comments" mentioned that it is necessary to ensure the investment of animal safety management funds and equip with necessary and effective safety protection facilities.
Both the exit and the entrance of the cage should adopt a dual access control system, and the two doors cannot be opened at the same time; the enclosure space for dangerous animals should be adapted to the number of animals, and the cage area should provide separate entrance and exit doors, and install 24-hour monitoring equipment; use electronic When access control, its design and installation should ensure that all electronically controlled doors will automatically close when the access control fails to ensure that animals are safely enclosed in the cage; power generation equipment should be equipped to protect the power grid, electric doors, and monitoring facilities in the event of a sudden power failure powered by.
High-level risk point single post with two persons responsible
In view of the animal safety management risks, the zoo's risk point identification and risk point assessment work, and digital ledger management.
For high-level risk positions (such as dangerous animals such as ferocious animals, highly poisonous animals, large animals, and tourist gathering hotspots, etc.), a single-post two-person responsibility system is implemented.
The two-person operation has a clear division of labor, mutual supervision, control of human error, and avoid incorrect operation behavior.
For man-machine parallel operation positions, the design plan should ensure that during the on-site operation, when human errors are caused by the automatic control equipment, the automatic control equipment can be corrected in time, and the personnel can control it in time when the automatic control equipment fails.
The "Draft for Comments" stated that the management scope includes zoos within the city, including comprehensive zoos (aquariums), specialized zoos, wild zoos, animal exhibition areas in urban parks, and research sites for breeding and breeding rare and endangered animals.
The reporter noticed that three leopards escaped from the zoo in Hangzhou in April this year.
There is still no information about the third leopard being found.
Follow-up 1
How feasible are the relevant measures in Hangzhou?
Experts believe that most of them are achievable, and digital safety management is the right direction for development
Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection Association, believes that Hangzhou’s approach is worthy of recognition and will help strengthen the zoo’s safety management measures and reduce the occurrence of safety accidents.
Zhou Haixiang, a member of the Advisory Committee of Chinese People and Biosphere Experts, said that strengthening prevention and monitoring measures through scientific and technological means can minimize and avoid the occurrence of safety accidents.
However, the zoo needs to increase capital investment, which has increased the operating pressure and operating costs of the zoo to a certain extent.
He Gang, an associate professor in the School of Life Sciences at Northwestern University, said that strengthening the digital management of zoos, especially digital safety management, is the correct development direction. First, real-time accurate identification of individuals must be realized in various scenarios.
The security protection video, infrared monitoring, alarm system construction, and digital management of animals in stock mentioned in the draft can be realized, but it may have an impact on the existing exhibition effect.
Follow-up 2
Is the implanted chip appropriate?
Experts believe that it will affect animals, and real-time positioning may not reach the power of the chip
The "Draft for Comments" mentioned the "implementation of digital tracking and positioning methods such as the implantation of positioning chips for birds of prey and beasts", which has attracted much attention.
Does this affect animals?
Zhou Haixiang believes that it is impossible for the tracking means to have no effect at all.
For example, he said that if you give birds a ring sign or wear a tracker, they are repellent at first and will peck with their mouths.
Wear trackers for cranes and storks. The tracker is located at the lower end of the tibia.
In winter, the birds stand on one foot, and the other leg is hidden in the feathers to keep warm. If the tracker worn is thick, it will affect the bird’s leg recovery.
Experts believe that the implanted chip method cannot be used to locate the beast, because the chip power cannot be reached.
Zhou Haixiang said that the current chip implanted in Swift is small and relies on solar energy to charge it, but it cannot be transmitted back in real time. It needs to be captured when Swift returns from the next migration and use a special machine to read the tracking information.
"If real-time positioning is required, the power requirements are relatively large, and it will take a long time to supply power."
Follow-up 3
Is it necessary for a zoo to exist?
Some experts believe that it is an important supplement to the in-situ conservation of wild animals, and some experts believe that the transformation of captive animals is inappropriate.
He Gang believes that the zoo, as a breeding institution for wild animals under artificial management, is an important way to carry out ex situ animal protection and an important supplement to wild animal protection in situ.
The zoo also assumes an important function of popular science education, providing opportunities for everyone to learn about animals, biodiversity, and knowledge of ecological and environmental protection.
Therefore, it is necessary for a zoo to exist.
However, Zhou Haixiang believes that at a certain historical stage, the existence of a zoo was once necessary.
In the past, everyone had to go to the zoo in the city on weekends to see the animals, and there was no concept of wild animals. At that time, the significance of popular science in the zoo was relatively strong.
Now the zoo is criticized, mainly because it encloses free animals.
The safari park is just that the cages have become larger, and the animals are still kept in captivity, and they cannot live without human feeding.
On the other hand, some zoos introduce endangered animals into the park through various channels for the sake of curiosity.
"The zoo must be transformed."
Sun Quanhui pointed out that from the perspective of animal welfare, tigers and leopards and other large beasts often require a lot of space and special habitat. Captive breeding will cause great pressure and challenges to them, so they are not suitable for zoo keeping.
In order to reduce the pain and harm caused to these animals in captivity, some advanced zoos in the world no longer keep large wild animals such as tigers, leopards, and elephants.
■ Link
Zoo animals run away and hurt people from time to time
The reporter combed and found that due to human negligence, unreasonable design and other reasons, animal escape and injury incidents occurred from time to time.
On July 13, 2019, a chimpanzee in Hefei Safari Park fled, not only injuring a person who came to stop him, but also pulling out an anesthesia gun shot in his body with his bare hands.
The garden party explained that the reason for the escape was that it rained and hit the bamboo branches next to the Orangutan Pavilion, and the chimpanzees used the bamboo branches to escape.
On November 25, 2017, a leopard escaped from the cage in the Guangzhou Zoo and was later found in the grass next to Tiger Mountain in the zoo.
The official WeChat announcement issued by the Guangzhou Zoo stated that the reason the leopard escaped from the cage was that the leopards in the cage stayed in the safety fence outside the cage during the cage operation of the two keepers.
On April 19 this year, in the animal quarantine area of Hangzhou Wildlife World, three leopards fled due to improper cleaning by the staff. One of them has not been recovered yet.
On May 25 this year, the tigers came out of the Peacock Valley Park in Nanyang, Henan Province because the breeders forgot to close the door when they cleaned the tiger cages.
Beijing News reporter Zhang Lu and intern Wang Miaomiao