I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 456 Receiving the Elephant

After petting the animals, the Sparkling Girls gathered again, happily sharing their experiences.

Ran Qingqing said, "The ring-tailed lemurs are so fun! When feeding them, several would jump on people."

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Yang Xiaochao said, "Walking with the alpacas was also quite fun. The one I walked with was called Brother Aotian, a very temperamental alpaca. It even had a standoff with a peafowl on the road. When the peafowl fanned its feathers, it sprayed the peafowl with saliva."

Everyone thought about that scene and indeed found it pretty interesting.

Shi Xi asked curiously, "Didn't you get sprayed with alpaca saliva?"

"I almost did! I had to brush its fur for a long time to get closer to it." Yang Xiaochao asked back, "How about you? How did it feel petting the snake, was it thrilling?"

"It was quite different from what I expected! Some snakes are actually pretty cute."

Yang Xiaochao's eyes widened, "Really? Weren't you terrified before you went?"

...

After the program finished shooting, everyone returned happily.

It would probably be a week before it was edited and broadcasted.

Compared to the program, Fang Ye was more concerned about two other matters recently.

One was the public interest lawsuit on the green peafowl, which would go to trial on March 20th. The other was the transport of an elephant.

Unlike other animals, such as ring-tailed lemurs or macaques that could be sent in batches, the Asiatic elephant would have to be transported one by one from different places.

The first elephant scheduled for transport was a 9-year-old female named "Pingping."

Pingping's backstory was also quite tragic. Her Asiatic elephant family once lived freely in the forests along the China-Myanmar border but was targeted by poachers intending to sell them to zoos in the country.

To control the elephants, which were difficult to domesticate, the poachers even smeared narcotics on bananas to feed them, causing the drug-addicted elephants to have to follow the poachers' orders.

Fortunately, the elephants were rescued by the Yunnan police and fostered in a wildlife rescue center in Hainan to rehabilitate. After two years, they successfully kicked the habit.

She was named "Pingping" in the hope that she would live safely and peacefully.

When Fang Ye looked into adopting the elephant, hearing that the rescue center was finding a new home for Pingping, he bought her.

Why not release her into the wild? Because after a long period of domestication and close contact with humans, elephants become accustomed to human habits. Wild animals generally keep their distance from humans, and those that have interacted with people for too long are hard to release back into the wild.

Like the animals rescued by the center, the keepers rarely interact with them, and for the animals not afraid of humans, they even undergo intimidation training, frightening them frequently to maintain their wariness of humans.

Plus, if released, without an accepting herd, they would be unable to survive in the wild.

For this elephant, Fang Ye personally flew to Haikou, bringing along the zoo's keepers for the transfer.

...

When people think of Hainan, the first impression that usually comes to mind is the crystal-clear blue sky, as if washed, the large swaths of white clouds, the splashing waves, trees with huge broad leaves like coconut and palm trees, and the deliciously sweet jackfruit!

But for Fang Ye, the first impression upon stepping off the plane was the scorching sun.

Although it was only in March and not yet April, the temperature in Haikou was already quite high, probably almost 30 degrees.

Even the morning sun was blistering, and after a short while on the skin, one would start to sweat.

The keeper Qing couldn't help but squint, using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, and said, "It's so sunny!"

Fang Ye laughed while handing him a straw hat, and put one on himself as well, "The weather here is indeed much hotter than in Linhai."

The straw hats were thoughtfully prepared by Lan Li; before leaving, she even applied some sunscreen on his face and arms.

After leaving the airport, they made a call to the staff of the rescue center and soon, a staffer came to pick them up.

After exchanging pleasantries, they got into the van that came to fetch them and set off along the wide highway, admiring the coastal scenery along the way.

Upon arrival at the rescue center located in the suburbs, they met Old Yang, the person in charge.

Old Yang looked at the two men and, noticing that Qing seemed a bit older, warmly extended his hand, "You must be Zoo Director Fang, right? So young!"

Feeling embarrassed, Qing said, "No, I'm not. This is our director!"

Fang Ye chuckled and shook hands with Old Yang, "Hello, hello!"

While exchanging greetings, they arrived at a very spacious area.

The scorching sun shone down on the reddish-brown earth where five or six elephants were strolling and playing leisurely. Enclosed behind a ring of sturdy metal bars about 3 meters high, roughly the same height as the elephants, the front featured a water ditch bordered by a concrete wall, looking quite muddy.

This type of red soil, rich in iron and aluminum oxides and thus red in color, develops under tropical and subtropical rainforest, seasonal rainforest, or evergreen broadleaf forest vegetation.

The elephants usually scatter soil over themselves and roll around in red mud pits, giving their skin a dark red hue. Under the golden sunlight, the red mixed with yellow evoked the color texture of old photographs.

Looking at the elephants, Qing couldn't help but exclaim, "This reminds me of 'Black Cat Detective' I used to watch as a kid!" Experience tales at novelbuddy

Fang Ye understood and smiled, "Ah ah ah~ ah ah ah~ Black Cat Detective!"

'Black Cat Detective' is indeed a very classic animated series!

The monkey-eating eagle stuffing a monkey into its beak with a "crunch," and the episode where a mantis devours a groom might be childhood traumas for many.

But looking back, it's quite interesting, and it shared a lot of scientific knowledge.

In the third episode "The thieves who ate red soil," the elephants, hippos, and wild boars stealing red soil seemed so implausible to the young Fang Ye, who thought they must be eating chocolate instead.

But indeed, they were eating soil, as red soil contains numerous trace elements that can replenish minerals when consumed.

An elephant close to them walked over, its long trunk crossing the water ditch and just reaching the top of the concrete wall.

It opened its mouth wide, seemingly greeting them, with two white tusks of over twenty centimeters peeking behind its trunk.

Fang Ye smiled and waved his hand, "Hello?"

Eye of Observation!

[Asiatic elephant: Pingping

Gender: Female

Age: 9 years old

Mood: Cheerful]

Many people have misconceptions about elephant tusks, thinking that those without tusks had them removed or that males have tusks and females do not.

However, with Asiatic elephants, not all individuals have visible tusks. Based on observations by scientists, 20% of male elephants don't display tusks while 20% of female elephants have visible tusks.

In short, one cannot determine the sex of an elephant solely by its tusks.

Old Yang laughed and said, "This elephant is the one you're here to take, Pingping; she's asking you for some fruit."

Fang Ye asked, "Do you have fruit? I'll feed her one."

A staff member handed him an apple!

Fang Ye took it, placing it near Pingping's trunk, and the flexibly soft flesh at the tip of the trunk picked up the apple. Her trunk curled back, bringing the apple to her mouth.