If you travel quickly through several major domestic zoos at the same time, you will most likely meet these people.
When you go to Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo to look for the famous "Du Du", you may encounter the director Shen Zhijun on the mountain road - netizens lamented that "the probability of seeing Director Shen is simply higher than that of animals." Shen Zhijun laughed and said that he might not be able to see all the animals when he visits the park. "Animals have a right not to see people, and I have to face these things every day."
You will also see Zhang Shuwen, a post-2000 conservationist at Shanghai Wildlife Park, taking good care of the 4-year-old orangutan "Little Grape". "Little Grape" likes this young human "nanny" very much. When they go out to play, it and Zhang Shuwen often walk hand in hand like good friends.
When you meet Qi Xinzhang, the deputy director of Xining Wildlife Park, he may be preparing to drive to the wild with the rescue staff to release a successfully rescued wild animal.
Nowadays, many young people say that they have "zoo brains", and visiting the zoo has become a very popular and must-do thing in life. Some of the animals have even become extremely popular stars, with their own fan bases and even Periphery.
What do those "human parents" who live with animals day and night think about "zoo fever"? When the craze hits, how should zoos do a good job in management, protection, science popularization, and scientific research? At the beginning of the new year, reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily conducted exclusive interviews with managers and staff of many well-known domestic zoos.
Zoos cure 'nature deficit disorder' in young people
An animal suddenly becomes angry for a strange reason, often beyond the imagination of zoo staff.
For example, "Dudu" at Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo (hereinafter referred to as "Hongshan Zoo").
"Dudu" is a newly introduced species in the Gondwana exhibition area of Hongshan Zoo. At first, everyone simply thought it was a novelty. In February 2023, some netizens said on social media that the white-faced monk-faced monkey looked "exploding." Hongshan Zoo stepped forward to protect the calf: "What kind of adjective is 'exploding'? Our 'Dudu' obviously looks very well-behaved. , and has a 'star flavor'." Subsequently, the topic "Zoo responds to white-faced monk monkey's appearance explosion" became a hot search topic on Weibo and was forwarded by many media. Netizens made videos to make fun of her, and "Dedu" quickly became popular on the Internet.
But Bai Yali, deputy director of Hongshan Zoo, believes that the popularity of Hongshan Zoo is not only because of the individual animals, but also because the concept and temperature of the zoo have been recognized by everyone. Hongshan Zoo has always hoped to establish a connection between wild animals and wild habitats, present the relationship between animals and the environment, and species and species in an ecological and three-dimensional form, try to simulate the wild environment as much as possible, and show the wild nature of wild animals to everyone. charm.
Bai Yali lamented that more and more young people are coming to the zoo. According to 2023 data, young people aged 20-30 account for nearly 60% of visitors to the park.
Xining Wildlife Park (hereinafter referred to as "Xiye") located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the only large-scale wildlife park in Qinghai Province and is responsible for the province's wildlife rescue work. In 2023, the number of visitors to Nishino exceeded 700,000 for the first time in history.
Many young people traveled thousands of miles to come to Xiye, queuing up to watch the star "Auntie" and her family, vying to take photos with the snow leopard "Princess Aoxue", using emoticons of rabbits on WeChat, and "super chatting" on Weibo Pay attention to the released desert cat "Huang Taiji".
Why do young people fall in love with animals in Nishino? Qi Xinzhang said, for example, rabbits are always kept in zoos, but not many people come to see them. Later, Qi Xinzhang consciously promoted and planned in advance, and gave interesting names to the animals.
Qi Xinzhang believes that the "contrast cuteness" of animals is easy to be liked by young people. For example, the rabbit cat is small in size and weak in combat power, but it looks very powerful and always shows an expression of "I despise this world."
According to Shen Zhijun, director of Hongshan Zoo, modern zoos in cities are a place for rare wild animals to live in the city. At the same time, young people in cities also want to get close to nature and small animals. In modern zoos, they can find empathy and resonance and relieve the pressure of study and life.
"Today's young people are facing greater pressure and challenges from work and study, so they hope to have a place to relax. Then visiting the zoo will naturally become a good medicine to cure young people's 'nature deficit disorder'." Shen Zhijun feels that pursuing nature and freedom It's everyone's nature.
Hongshan Zoo is both a zoo and a wildlife shelter and rescue center. Citizens often bring baby birds that have just learned to fly and have fallen to the ground, injured or lost animals to Hongshan Zoo. This is a sign of good nature. "Paying attention to nature and loving life are signs of the continuous development of human civilization." Shen Zhijun said.
There is never a "ceiling" for "animal welfare", only better
Young people love the zoo more and more, and their surging love is accompanied by deeper thinking. On the Internet, people began to pay attention to and become interested in animal protection, zoo management and other content.
What do the "human parents" of animals do on a daily basis? What efforts will they make to take good care of the animals?
Shanghai Wildlife Park held 40 live broadcasts on Douyin from January 5 to 28 this year, taking everyone to "tour" the zoo. In the live footage, the Siberian tigers were playing and playing, and then jumped up to bite the food hung on the rope; the "Capybara" (capybara) gathered together and chewed grass in a stable mood, without being disturbed by the outside world; the chimpanzees "Aduo" was lying leisurely on the tire, looking like he was peacefully passing through the years.
Zhang Shuwen, a post-2000s nursery nurse at Shanghai Wildlife Park, told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that her current workplace was her biggest dream workplace when she was a child.
Zhang Shuwen went to the zoo almost every month when she was a child. The animals gave her a "sense of healing." When filling in her application for the college entrance examination, Zhang Shuwen's parents preferred that their daughter major in finance, education, etc., but Zhang Shuwen insisted on applying for the veterinary medicine major and was admitted as she wished.
After graduating, Zhang Shuwen was assigned to work in the kangaroo and alpaca area, and was later transferred to the primate area. The animal she is mainly responsible for taking care of is a baby orangutan named "Little Grape" - the first orangutan born in the Shanghai Wildlife Park. Because "Little Grape"'s mother has to take care of her 5-month-old brother, the important task of taking care of "Little Grape" falls on Zhang Shuwen.
When Zhang Shuwen first came into contact with "Little Grape", "Little Grape" was a little scared and did not dare to approach. As the contact increased, "Little Grape" discovered that Zhang Shuwen was not in danger, and gradually became familiar with her.
Taking care of a baby orangutan is no easy task. "No matter what it encounters, it will touch it, such as eating randomly in the flower bed and digging in the grass. This behavior may be innate." For this reason, Zhang Shuwen usually uses some "little grapes" Attract its attention with the things you like, and at the same time, when it's not around, clear away dangerous things in that area in advance.
"A baby orangutan is almost like a child and very playful, so we will give it some plush toys or wood. After reaching a certain age, its activity level needs to increase, and we will add some toys such as ladders." At Shanghai Wildlife Park In the Orangutan Square, there are ladders and trampolines specially made for orangutans.
Zhang Shuwen said that she and other staff will adjust the orangutan's diet at each stage to ensure that the cubs supplement the nutrients they need at each stage of growth. “We will check whether there are any problems with them every day by observing their intake, feces, mental activities, etc. Moreover, orangutan babies are also very sensitive to the temperature of the environment. We will adjust their temperature from time to time and make corresponding records every day. For cubs, we need more patience and a stronger sense of responsibility to take care of them." Zhang Shuwen said.
"There are many uncertainties, surprises, and challenges in nature. Animals will not be watched, their actions will not be restricted, time will be freely controlled, and their own destiny will be controlled. It is difficult for zoos to do this. They can only imitate nature. We have done a better job," said Li Meirong, deputy director of Hongshan Zoo.
Li Meirong introduced that Hongshan Zoo has invested a lot in "enrichment", which is divided into many aspects such as environmental enrichment, food enrichment, and community enrichment. Site and cage construction is part of environmental enrichment. Red Mountain Zoo has a native animal conservation area where deer live. The zoo has created a swamp for the deer, which is filled with reeds, calamus, waterlilies and other plants. The deer often appear among the aquatic reeds.
Li Meirong said that the deer's nerves are very sensitive. In the past, the deer would run wildly in the zoo's cages and often get injured. "After creating a swamp environment, the deer's behavior has become much more natural." Hongshan Zoo has built a hill full of shrubs for leopards. The leopards can bask in the sun on the hill and hide food in fallen leaves.
Shen Zhijun said that although the keepers at Hongshan Zoo are racking their brains to make toys and enrich the animals every day, animals will occasionally engage in stereotyped behaviors (a behavior of animals that usually occurs when they are locked up). After a long time, such as when walking around the cage - reporter's note). "Every time we see these messages in the background, we feel guilty and ashamed. Only if we spend more energy and strive to improve animal welfare and reduce stereotyped behaviors can we be worthy of the public and these animals."
"Animal welfare is never the best, only better, and there is no 'ceiling'." Shen Zhijun said.
It is crucial to do a good job in animal protection, rescue, scientific research and science popularization
On January 23 this year, when reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily contacted Qi Xinzhang, he was releasing a successfully rescued alpine vulture on a hilltop near the north shore of Qinghai Lake.
Before being released, the rescuers put a satellite positioning device on it. "This may be the first alpine vulture in China that was released with a positioning device after rescue." Qi Xinzhang said that if the alpine vulture encounters any unexpected situation in the wild, the rescue personnel can conduct secondary rescue in time. At the same time, they also hope that through the equipment, Learn more about the living habits of alpine vultures in the wild.
For Nishino, wildlife rescue work is the norm. The zoo also has another name - Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center. In recent years, Nishino has rescued about 1,800 wild animals. Many of the rescued wild animals have been evaluated and returned to nature after meeting the conditions for release.
"Animals are watched" is not the only function of a zoo. Doing a good job in animal protection, rescue, scientific research and science popularization is an important part that is often invisible to the public.
Guangzhou Chimelong Wildlife World is a popular choice for family travel. But in fact, Chimelong has been committed to scientific research for a long time. Chimelong established the Chimelong Animal and Plant Research and Innovation Institute to promote research on global rare species conservation. The college has 15 branch research centers including the Chimelong Ornithological Research Center and the Chimelong Primate Research Center. It has also built a cognitive science popularization, research science popularization, and conservation science popularization system, and has developed more than 100 courses to promote wildlife protection knowledge. , and promote science popularization on campus.
In 2019, Chimelong Wildlife World broke through the breeding problem and successfully mated Komodo dragons. In 2020, after a two-month gestation period and an eight-month incubation period, nine Komodo dragons were successfully hatched. Currently, Chimelong Wildlife World has bred 25 Komodo dragon offspring, making it the largest Komodo dragon breeding base in the country. Some people say, "In the Year of the Dragon, I went to Chimelong to see a real dragon."
To protect animals, there are at least two points, one is rescue and the other is breeding. "This is the duty of the zoo." Qi Xinzhang said, "To protect wild animals, rescue injured and sick individuals when they encounter them, and strive to help qualified individuals return to the wild; some individuals cannot return to the wild. In the wild, raising them in zoos and even expanding the population through artificial breeding is also a kind of protection; there are also some extreme individuals that cannot be released into the wild or artificially bred. In this case, through Breeding and display will help more people start to know, understand, pay attention to, and care about this species, which is also helpful to them.”
What is the ideal zoo model?
In Qi Xinzhang’s view, zoos must perfectly fulfill their purpose and do a good job in protection and education.
"An ideal zoo may do a very good job in wildlife rescue, have very complete medical rescue conditions, and be able to rescue a large number of wild animals. In terms of breeding, it can overcome the artificial breeding problems of rare and endangered species one after another, and even After the artificially bred population expands to a sufficient scale, it can be released into the wild and rebuild the wild population. In addition, it must be able to carry out good conservation education, guide the public to view and treat nature correctly, and participate in wild animals together. Conservation work in progress.”
Qi Xinzhang said that there are more details worthy of attention, such as the welfare of every animal living in the zoo is guaranteed, and they live a healthy and happy life; every staff member has very high professional quality and level, and can Take good care of these wild animals and carry out popular science education; tourists who come to the zoo have a very high level of awareness and can consciously learn the knowledge and concepts of wild animal protection.
At the entrance of Xiye Park, the first popular science sign reads Jane Goodall's famous saying: "Only understanding can lead to caring; only caring can lead to action; only action can lead to hope." Qi Xinzhang has always believed that , only if there are enough people paying attention and the influence is large enough, the species can obtain more protection resources, and it will be more helpful to protect wild populations.
Shen Zhijun said: "Nowadays, the public pays more and more attention to zoos, and zoos often become the focus of public opinion. However, changes due to attention are always passive. The driving force for a zoo's progress should come from the entire zoo, from its leaders to its employees. The group’s unified understanding of the zoo’s core values requires the team to walk together. For us, this road will never end.”
Regarding the phenomenon of animals becoming stars, Shen Zhijun believes that zoos need to be "interesting" when conveying information, so as to attract people to watch, but they need to ensure scientific professionalism and grasp the scale to avoid promoting animals as too "cute". Zoos should guide visitors to understand "what is correct wildlife protection" and make changes.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Shen Jiequn and Yu Bingyue Source: China Youth Daily