"Animal-oriented" or "human-oriented"?
The wildlife park industry is at a "crossroads"
On October 17, 2020, a staff member of Shanghai Wild Animal Park was attacked by a brown bear and died while performing operations in a beast area.
A few days ago, the investigation results of this incident were announced, and 9 related persons responsible were dealt with.
During the Spring Festival, the wild animal area (car-in area) of Shanghai Wild Animal Park has been reopened after adjustment.
In recent years, the safari industry in my country has developed rapidly, but it has also brought many problems, especially the frequent incidents of brutal beasts that have caused widespread concern.
Experts believe that this reflects the widespread problems of poor management and lagging concepts in wildlife parks, which urgently require profound reflection.
The development of the zoo industry cannot only be calculated as an "economic account", but also an "ecological civilization account".
Tragedy: Staff members get off the car and are besieged by brown bears
According to the investigation report issued by the Shanghai Pudong New Area Emergency Management Bureau, on October 14, 2020, the Shanghai Wildlife Park Landscape Construction Department arranged the outsourcing unit Jinyi Company to dig the soil and weeds in the Beast Area (Bear Area).
At around 8:30 on October 16th, squad leader Ji in the wild animal zone drove a zebra cart and guided Jinyi's excavator driver Xu to drive the excavator into the wild animal zone (bear zone) to carry out soil and weeding operations.
Ji, Min, and Zhu in the safari park take turns in the zebra cart to conduct operational supervision.
At 8 o'clock on October 17, Xu drove an excavator into the beast area (bear area) to turn soil and weed.
Ji, Min, and Zhu once again took turns in the zebra cart for job monitoring.
At about 16:30, because the track on the right side of the excavator's dozer shovel fell off, Xu Moumou left the excavator cab and went to the right side of the excavator to check the condition of the car. Zhu Moumou, who was sitting in the zebra cart and was responsible for work monitoring, got off the vehicle illegally. , Walked to Xu XX to remind him to return to the excavator cab.
At that time, there were a few brown bears around the zebra carts and excavators.
On the way back, Zhu Moumou was thrown down and bitten by a brown bear that sprang out quickly, and then the bulls gathered together to bite.
Xu Moumou wanted to drive the brown bear to rescue him, but at this time, more bears gathered, Xu Moumou quickly dialed 110.
When rescuers arrived at 16:39 and drove the bears away, Zhu Moumou had already suffered misfortune.
Similar unfortunate incidents have occurred in Shanghai Wildlife Park.
In November 1999, at the Shanghai Wildlife Park, a driver was bitten by three Siberian tigers and died.
In recent years, wild animal attacks have also occurred in many wild zoos across the country.
In 2014, a 9-year-old boy was bitten off his arm by a black bear in Henan.
In 2015, at the Qinhuangdao Wildlife Park in Hebei, a tourist got off the car while visiting the White Tiger Park and was bitten and died.
In 2016, two female tourists got off the car in the beast area of the Badaling Wildlife Park in Beijing. They were attacked by tigers, causing one death and one injury.
In 2017, a man was attacked by a tiger at Ningbo Youngor Wildlife Park and died after being sent to the hospital.
The number of wild zoos has soared, which is abnormal
Since the 1990s, there has been a wave of large-scale new "immersion" visits in wildlife parks in many places.
Statistics show that as of 2018, there are 185 urban zoos and wild zoos in my country, of which 49 are wild zoos.
As early as the 1990s, in response to the rush to build wild zoos, relevant state departments issued management regulations. However, due to the involvement of multiple administrative departments and no authority for unified planning and management, many projects are still being launched. , The number of safari parks is obviously surplus.
Zhang Jinshuo, deputy curator of the National Zoological Museum of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that zoos are a special industry involving wildlife protection and cannot be completely market-driven and laissez-faire development.
Some safari parks blindly pursue the types and numbers of animals, small and complete, and homogeneity is serious; some do not consider the requirements of animals for environmental conditions, introduce a large number of animals, causing damage to the animals; some lack the guidance of professional and technical personnel to carry out Amusement projects that violate the living habits of animals and the laws of nature, blindly pursue economic benefits, and lead to a high incidence of accidents such as beasts hurting people.
Guo Geng, a researcher at the Beijing Elk Ecological Experimental Center, believes that the number of zoos is growing rapidly, which is an abnormal phenomenon.
At present, the number of zoos in various countries in the world has generally stagnated, and the development direction has changed from caged to free-range. The construction of zoos ranges from cities to suburbs. It is advocated that humans should regard wild animals as friends.
Relying on "feeding animals" to make money is the level of business more than 100 years ago
In the business philosophy of a considerable part of safari parks in my country, animals are merely tools for making money. In order to pursue economic interests, there are many bad habits in the industry that are "people-oriented".
For example, in order to attract tourists, some safari parks force animals to perform and take photos with tourists; in order to develop night tours, too many lights are installed in the park, which destroys the living habits of animals.
Another example is that tourists sitting in a sightseeing car and feeding animals for a fee have become a "signature project" in many safari parks.
Guo Geng believes that feeding animals not only changes the living habits of animals, but also causes the psychological root cause of beasts attacking people. It is a behavior of "mutual harm" between humans and animals.
Animals that are accustomed to being fed have psychological expectations of humans. Once they don't get food from tourists, they will actively follow, pick up trucks, turn bags, and even exhibit aggressive behavior.
In order to force animals to beg to tourists and cater to tourists' desire for excitement, some safari parks even deliberately do not allow animals to eat.
"It is very low-level to make money by feeding and entertaining animals, and it is still at the level of zoo management more than a hundred years ago." Zhang Jinshuo believes that there can be many more scientific and benign ways to manage the zoo well.
For example, you can invite high-level experts to do popular science explanations, hold small breeder training, insect specimen making, feed processing experience activities, or even leave the zoo's pavilion and lead everyone to wild birds and so on.
These creative animal science and education projects can be charged, and the zoo can also be made elegant and noble. It does not have to rely on entertainment to make money.
Experts believe that wild animals are not entirely objects that are appreciated and used by humans, and should have the same right to survival as humans.
The entire zoo industry should vigorously advocate the "animal-oriented" development concept and guide the public to form a new social trend of "respect for animals and respect for life".
The development of the industry needs more "ecological civilization account"
At present, the global species extinction rate is accelerating, and zoos are important places for ex-situ conservation of rare and endangered species.
The development of the zoo industry cannot only be regarded as an "economic account", but also an "ecological civilization account".
Pei Enle, director of Shanghai Zoo, believes that whether it is a city zoo or a wild zoo, it should return to the essence of the zoo and adhere to the three functions of "situ conservation, scientific research, and science education".
The zoo is not an entertainment place for "consumption of wild animals". The zoo should guide visitors, not cater to them.
Therefore, it is necessary to plan and organize as many social activities as possible that meet the characteristics of public welfare, publicize knowledge of wild animals and wildlife protection, and return to the attributes of social public welfare. Amusement projects that do not meet the concept of civilization and ecological requirements should be explicitly prohibited. .
At the same time, dig deep into animal protection culture, develop cultural and creative products, and derivative products, extend the industrial chain, and add new profit models.
At the same time, the zoo industry should strengthen the management of animal populations and establish the concept of "single species population management among zoos".
Although the same species is distributed in different zoos, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation between zoos. They must be managed according to the age structure, sex structure, and blood relationship of the animals, and the individual is based on the demographic and genetic management and analysis of animal pedigrees. The paired reproduction between the animals reduces the inbreeding of animals.
Promote the orderly management of animals through cooperative breeding between zoos and the "industry conventions" that they abide by, and animals should not be regarded as the "private property" of the zoo.
Establishing the concept of "animal-oriented", we must also strengthen animal welfare; actively promote animal enrichment work, discuss the theory and practical application of animal enrichment, and promote the scientific and refined management of animal enrichment; in the breeding process, Continuously sum up experience, compile animal feeding guidelines and technical specifications, and form industry standards and regulations.
Experts believe that relevant national departments should not be overly pursuing "large and complete" in guiding the development of zoos. It is necessary to build characteristic populations, characteristic exhibition areas and characteristic activities with regional characteristics, local characteristics and native animal advantages according to local conditions. Pay attention to local species protection and education activities.
At the same time, the experts also called for the formulation of regulations and rules such as the Wildlife Park Regulations as soon as possible, rational planning, scientific layout, and clear management responsibilities.
In view of the poor operation of some wildlife parks, it is possible to take the road of integration and restructuring, and gradually incorporate wildlife parks into social welfare undertakings in the future.
(Zhang Jiansong)