I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 374: Arrival of the Giant Panda

A curious tourist asked, "I’ve heard that in a wolf pack, only the leader has the right to mate and reproduce, is that true?"

Fang Ye shook his head and said, "All those tales about the alpha wolf ruling the pack, enjoying priority access to prey, and possessing mating rights have been overturned by field observations of wolves. In reality, as long as there is an abundance of food, all the female wolves in the pack will give birth to cubs, which are then raised by the group.

When several of the female wolves are pregnant and give birth to cubs, the wolf pack will leave the cubs in a den to be cared for by a nanny wolf while hunting. This conserves the wolves’ energy and allows more of them to participate in hunting."

Our other female wolf, Little Cabbage, since she isn’t part of the breeding program, has been isolated. She won’t be let out until her mating season is over."

"Eh, why separate her?" a tourist immediately asked, puzzled.

It was the same issue that had come up at the lion exhibit before.

Fang Ye thought for a moment and said, "Emotionally, I too wish we could let them breed freely, but from a rational standpoint, of course, we need to control their reproduction.

In zoos, animals don’t experience the pressures of survival in the wild and don’t spend time searching for food. When they are warm and well-fed, their thoughts turn to copulation, and they tend to mate more frequently. With no natural predators to hunt them and medical treatment available when they are ill, if we don’t control their numbers, they will keep increasing.

If we allow the animals to breed without restraint, the zoo could reach its carrying capacity, leading to insufficient living space, food shortages, hungry lions and tigers with a red glint in their eyes, a surge in bloody fights, increased risk of animal keepers being attacked, unmanageable amounts of waste, a stench pervading the facility, higher chances of animals falling ill, keepers getting too busy and negligent, and animals attempting to escape, which can lead to dreadful consequences."To control the population of the animals, we can separate males from females, offer contraception, or perform euthanasia, each method having its pros and cons.

Some zoos euthanize 20 to 30 healthy animals each year to simulate the real survival conditions of animals in the wild.

Euthanizing the cubs born from uncontrolled breeding, generally after they have reached maturity, allows the animal parents to have the experience of breeding and rearing their offspring.

Spatial separation sounds better than contraception or euthanasia, but that’s not entirely true. The advantage of contraception is that it’s not necessary to separate females from males to prevent pregnancy. Take Little Cabbage, for example, who can no longer roam freely in the open field but must stay in her enclosure.

Furthermore, the hormones in contraceptives can reduce the aggressiveness of males competing for females. Such competition can sometimes be very fierce, often resulting in fights and injuries. If visitors see the animals fighting every time, they might also feel uneasy.

However, contraceptives can have side effects on animals, such as the risk of uterine infections and tumors in large cats and canines.

These measures also help ensure the animals’ genetic diversity, preventing inbreeding. Genetic diversity is important for the long-term survival of a species, enabling offspring to have a range of abilities necessary for life in the wild.

With such breeding management, the ultimate goal is to avoid the various hazards of animal surplus and to ensure that animals can continue to have the right to breed and rear their young."

This topic, when brought up, will certainly lead to ethical controversies.

At this moment, a few tourists furrowed their brows, looking troubled. Clearly, they were still wrestling with the dilemma since all methods seem to have their drawbacks, especially euthanasia, which seemed so cruel. They felt that the zoo wasn’t as great as they had imagined.

Nevertheless, Fang Ye was candid, letting the visitors think it over, whether they liked it or not.

A reflective tourist said, "I believe that if we cannot guarantee the quality of life for animals, then letting them die with dignity rather than living miserably is a way of respecting them.

I once watched a video about rescuing stray dogs; perhaps due to limited space and funding, they could only care for a hundred dogs but took in a thousand. Those dogs were so hungry they started to eat each other, and many were suffering from infectious diseases. It was terrible. If you’re compassionate, it’s better to care for a few dogs well rather than let all of them barely survive.

Living can sometimes be more painful than dying."

Fang Ye nodded and said, "Actually, this represents a positive attitude towards life."

The zoo carefully assesses whether to perform euthanasia when animals are old, suffering from debilitating diseases like arthritis, and in pain with no hope of treatment.

However, in the case of humans, euthanasia presents significant ethical problems.

A visitor couldn’t help but ask, "What right do humans have to decide their life and death? Is there something wrong with the dogs?"

Fang Ye smiled and replied calmly, "You’re right, animals are not at fault. Whatever they do, they act based on instinct, so we humans should learn and think more, knowing what is right to do, and take responsibility for the animals.

If we only acted on instinct, then wouldn’t we be no different from animals?"

"Quack quack~"

Immediately, nearby visitors started clapping.

...

Time flew like a swiftly passing steed, and one month blinked by!

This month nothing significant happened at the zoo. The animals that played in the snow did so, those that ate kept eating, and some were busy breeding every day.

In the tranquil days, January of the new year arrived.

The panda exhibit was completed, and after communicating with the Giant Panda Base, the rented giant pandas were brought over by plane.

The male giant panda was named Zhuangzhuang, and the other, a female, was named Cloud!

They are both 4 years old, still babies, as pandas are not considered adults until they are 5 and a half years old.

To be precise, they’re sub-adults; until one and a half years old, they are juveniles.

Fang Ye, along with several employees from the zoo, arrived early at the airport to prepare for the reception.

Everyone’s faces were brimming with smiles, and their moods were very excited.

Lan Li exclaimed excitedly, "Giant pandas, eh? Our zoo is going to have giant pandas!"

Fang Ye scratched her palm and laughed, "Look how happy you are."

Lin Ying fell into a reverie, almost drooling, "Hehe, I never thought I’d have the chance to be a vet for a giant panda. During the physical examination, I must touch its fur to see what it feels like."

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Guan Shan rubbed her hands together, her eyes shining, "Everything is ready, all we need now is the giant panda!" Explore more at novelbuddy

As the leader of the panda exhibit, she made quite a few preparations to welcome the giant pandas.

The feeding of giant pandas follows specific technical procedures, with an extremely complex feed chart. Fresh bamboo is, of course, the staple food, but in addition to bamboo, there are bamboo shoots, apples, eggs, carrots, expanded feed, and so on.

All the food for the giant pandas was ready.

The quarantine area for the giant pandas was directly in the back of the giant panda exhibit, a special treatment.

Their health conditions were carefully monitored at all times, and since they were neither returning from abroad nor traveling internationally, the quarantine time could be shorter, depending on how quickly they adapted. At the earliest, they could be on display in just 7 days.