Why do young people like animals so much
In "The Post-95 Youth Talk", young people from China, Germany and Cuba have found a common topic - pets.
This group of young people has a new standard for defining winners in life - "rich and leisure, both cats and dogs".
During her stay in China, a German girl, Isabell Perner, adopted a stray dog. "It is 100% Chinese, but only understands German because it was brought up by my father."
The Cuban boy, Wilson Wang, once made toys and clothes for dogs, took it to the beach and the park, "because dogs like it".
According to the "2021 China Pet Economy Industry Research Report", the scale of China's pet economy industry in 2020 will reach 295.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.5%.
Seventy percent of the respondents in the Super League have experience of raising pets, of which 65.6% have dogs and 40.6% have cats.
77.7% of the respondents regard pets as emotional sustenance.
"I've said it a million times, it's a family member!"
In Wang Shaocong's view, the reason why young people are more and more fond of keeping pets is that pets can help them reduce the pressure brought by work and study, "When you go home from school, go home and play with your dog, you will relax a lot. ".
Moreover, in big cities, many young people live alone and cannot see their family members for a long time. At this time, pets assume the function of family companionship.
"The companionship of a pet is really important, I've said it a million times, it's a family member! The love you give your dog, it's going to give back the same love, it's an amazing feeling. Love is for pets The main reason," Isabel said.
In 2021, a documentary about the inseparable relationship between pets and people, "Can't Live Without You", scored 9.0 on Douban, and netizens commented that "from the first episode to the sixth episode."
In the film, Grandpa Xiong chooses to euthanize his pet dog "Mao Xiong" who is seriously ill; Xiao Zang finds his beloved cat "Laffey" who has been raised for many years to no avail, and slowly let go and let go; Aunt Ji "pulls a hole" in the house , just to make it easier for stray cats and dogs to enter and leave the room; there are also pet morticians and pet detectives who travel in different cities... No matter what happens between us and our pets, life, old age, sickness and death will eventually come, and what pets teach us is always love.
On Zhihu, a question-and-answer community where young people gather, nearly 20 million users follow pet-related topics, and millions of young people participate in pet-related discussions every day.
Why are young people more and more fond of pets?
Some small stories shared by netizens may be the answer.
The netizen "Eight Bun", who calls himself a "pet salt researcher", described his experience when he returned home from the hospital emergency room at 4:00 in the morning, "This little fluffy figure is blocking the entrance, preventing you from entering the house. The only way to go, I walked towards you with unhurried steps, and gently and slowly arched the back of your gauze hand just after the infusion."
Psychological research confirms that pets can indeed reduce loneliness.
A 2019 study of 1,160 seniors living alone found that 12.5 percent of seniors owned cats and 5.4 percent of seniors owned dogs, and found that pet owners were less socially isolated than non-pet owners.
In fact, pets have become an adjunct to psychotherapy. When we face loneliness, depression, anxiety, or other negative emotions, the petting or hugging of the "hairy child" can alleviate the pain.
Young people are willing to buy good and expensive pets
Isabelle said that in Germany, if you want to get a dog, there are only two official ways to do it, either at a pet store or at a rescue station.
"In order to get a pet, you have to show that you have enough money and enough space to keep it, and you have to put it all on paper. It has to be held accountable, pets are more like family members, not just An animal.” Isabelle said that if a pet is abandoned, a fine of 90,000 euros may be imposed for the “crime of abandonment”.
Wang Shaocong said that in Cuba, the laws regarding animals are somewhat different from those in Germany. You don't need to pay a lot of money to keep pets, but you have to make sure to treat them well.
There is no doubt that the pet economy is booming in China.
The "2020 China Pet Consumption Trend Report" shows that the current online pet market as a whole is dominated by young consumers born in the 1985s and 1990s, accounting for 40.3% of the share; followed by the post-95s, accounting for 23.6% of the share.
In short, for young consumer groups, pets play a role in meeting companionship, communication, self-expression, and higher-level spiritual needs.
In terms of pet consumption, they are willing to buy good and expensive ones.
Moreover, the pet economy involves more and more fields, including diet, cleaning, medical care, trusteeship, funerals... Almost all the needs of pets at all stages of their lives are covered.
In the program, Isabel brought the pet dog "Fubao" to a "pet hotel".
In this "hotel" dedicated to pets, all rooms are independent, equipped with intelligent security systems, and "accompanying foster care".
The store manager introduced that after the dogs "stayed", someone would play with them every day, and they could also play and socialize in the yard.
"What should I do if my Fubao is a little introverted?" Isabelle asked a tougher question.
The manager is confident: "We can arrange to interact with it every day with a dog of the same size, docile and friendly personality, so that it will not get bored, and it will also play a very good role in its socialization." , sounds more attentive than the service of a human hotel.
During the Spring Festival this year, the pet economy is as prosperous as the New Year.
On the e-commerce platform, new pet-themed Spring Festival couplets, window grilles, etc., such as "Cat Fat Home Run", can easily sell "100,000+" pieces in a store with good sales.
Going to “Cat Cafe”, “Dog Cafe”, as well as pet-themed beverage stores such as the new Internet celebrities “Duck Cafe” and “Alpaca Cafe” have also become one of the holiday entertainment consumptions of young people.
Isabelle went to a "dog cafe" in Chengdu, which she had never seen in Germany.
Between the dogs in a room, she suddenly had the idea of opening a family when she returned to Germany, "That would be amazing!"
An "elephant tour group" that attracts global attention
Young people in the city want to "touch" animals, only pets at home or animals in zoos, and more animals, they live in the vast nature.
Caring for animals is not just about pets at home.
In the spring of 2021, a group of Asian elephants in Yunnan formed a "walking, eating, shopping and eating group" and moved northward from their original habitat, Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, and became the focus of the country and even the world for a while.
Isabelle also paid attention to the news: "I saw people in the village taking care of the elephants, waiting for them to leave, not doing anything else, and not disturbing them. This is so loving!"
Wang Doupi, a Zhihu netizen who calls himself a "behaviourist", put forward his own views on the phenomenon of elephants moving north: the elephants may not have lost their way, it is likely that they have not found suitable habitats along the way, so will go further and further.
And this elephant group going north, through the "walking and eating" activity, foraging on wild vegetation, crops and residents' storage along the way, reducing the cost of finding habitats to a certain extent, and then "unscrupulously" going further and further.
The "unscrupulous" of animals is behind the "indulgence" of humans.
Data show that after more than 30 years of protection, the wild Asian elephant population in Yunnan has grown from 193 in the early 1980s to about 300 at present.
In 2020, the public liability insurance for wild animal accidents in Pu'er City paid 16.046 million yuan for Asian elephant accidents.
In October 2021, China officially established five first batch of national parks, including Sanjiangyuan, Giant Panda, Siberian Tiger and Leopard, Hainan Tropical Rainforest, and Wuyi Mountain, with a protected area of 230,000 square kilometers, covering nearly 30% of the land area under national key protection. Species of wild animals and plants.
People have always been curious about wildlife, and animal documentaries have always been a popular category for documentaries.
Even if you are not a documentary lover, you must have heard the familiar phrase "spring is here, all things recover, and the prairie is the season for animals to mate".
For the post-80s and post-90s, "Animal World" is a common childhood memory.
In the past two years, documentaries such as "Surviving in the Wild: Endangered Wild Animals", "Killing and Trading: Taking You to the Battle of Rhino Horns" and "Panda Story" have also told the stories of animals from different aspects.
Talking about animals, in the final analysis, it is about people and animals.
The documentary "All the way to the "Elephant" North" tracks the daily life of that "elephant tour group".
One of the emergencies occurred in the middle of the night: a car met the elephants head-on in the middle of the night, only three or four meters apart, and the crowd who got off the car "hit face to face" with the elephants. withdraw……
The relationship between man and nature should be so equal and interesting.
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Jiang Xiaobin Source: China Youth Daily