ANIMALS that lived in ZOO
Either on trips with school, friends or with parents, Zoos are a part of the childhood memories of many people. On top of that, it initiated our understanding of wild animals. Zoos are entertaining, educational and serve to assist scientific research as well as the protection of animals.
Looking at the records from the 19th century, we observed animals, surrounded by metal bars, standing on hays and concrete floors. Today, zoos are starting to be more concerned with the well-being of animals. They want people to not only see the animals, but also learn about them.
This leads to our discussion of the environmental enrichments provided by zoos. Environmental enrichment means trying to imitate the natural habitat of the animals as much as possible in the captive environment. This encourages the animals to present their natural tendencies and avoid self-stimulatory behaviors caused by negative emotions. (Self-stimulatory behaviors are repeated behaviors that serve no clear purpose.)
（https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/90583950）（“几百年前的动物园到底是啥样？.” 知乎专栏, 15 July 2019, zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/90583950.）
1. Negative example in the zoo: the dying Bay crocodile Xiaohe
Xiaohe is the largest crocodile raised by humans in the world. With a body length of more than 5 meters, Xiaohe was raised by Xihe Zou in Taiwan from a hatchling. It is very rare for a crocodile raised in captivity to grow that big - other crocodiles comparable to Xiaohe’s size were raised in the wild. This shows the amount of time and effort Mr. Zou put into raising Xiaohe. In 2017, Mr. Zou decided to donate Xiaohe to the ZhongFeiShiYe Zoo in XiaMen, China with the intention of finding Xiaohe a better living environment.
In a news report in 2017, the Zoo in XiaMen stated that they are very attentive to the physical condition and the living environment of Xiaohe. When Xiaohe arrived at the zoo, according to the zoo keepers, they decided to introduce Xiaohe to his new home at noon to make sure that the temperature was the most comfortable. Xiaohe’s new home is four times as big as his original habitat in Taiwan, and because of the difference in temperature, a special heating system was built for him.
（https://www.reddit.com/r/twitter_read/comments/zp7v53/）（“R/Twitter_Read - 最近国内很火的一个热点：B站博主爬行天下发帖称，台湾赠送给大陆的最大湾鳄小河生存处境堪忧，今天有网友前往探望被工作人员阻拦。.” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/twitter_read/comments/zp7v53/最近国内很火的一个热点b站博主爬行天下发帖称台湾赠送给大陆的最大湾鳄小河生存处境堪忧今天有网友前往探. Accessed 14 Feb. 2023.）
However the influencer PaXingTianXia exposed on Bilibili (Chinese Youtube) the abuse Xiaohe is facing at the Xiamen Zoo on December 15th of 2022. We chose the word abuse because the treatment of Xiaohe does not align with the five international requirements of animal welfare: the freedom to have sufficient food and water, the freedom to live comfortably, the freedom to not suffer from harm and disease, the freedom to not be scared or sad, and the freedom to express their nature.
According to the influencer Paxingtianxia, crocodiles that are properly taken care of should have a round body, strong torso, which is the cross-section of the body; their bodies should be oval-shaped, and the outline of their shoulders should be soft. In the photo, Xiaohe’s scapulae is clearly protruding, and his side profile is also really skinny. Furthermore, the water Xiaohe lives in is really murky and too shallow to cover him. This can be deadly to a crocodile of this size. Living in shallow water or land which can’t support the whole weight of the crocodile for a long period of time will cause organ failure; the crocodile will be crushed by its own weight. The above two factors are enough to put the life of Xiaohe in danger, but that is not all.
According to the video of Dongqing-Cyan, an influencer on Bilibili, Xiaohe has cuts on his face and body - some were newly formed scabs, while others were old wounds. These were all caused by tourists throwing stones at Xiaohe in order to verify whether the mentally unstable and immobile Xiaohe was alive. In addition to the injuries on his skin, Xiaohe has tumors growing around his mouth and toes, proving that park authorities did not give him proper treatment. Ironically, the reason Mr. Zou Xihe tearfully sent Xiaohe away after 36 years of companionship was because Taiwan's animal protection organization complained of Xiaohe's breeding environment standards. Now Xiaohe is in a worse habitat, and his life is in peril. The maximum lifespan of captive crocodiles is 115 years old; even wild crocodiles can live on average up to 70 years old. Xiao He is only at his prime.
Zoo’s response to this situation was disheartening. “If the water were deeper the visitors won’t be able to see Xiaohe '', they said. “We couldn’t afford the cost of the water due to the pandemic”, they said. These are all excuses - Xiaohe's suffering is a result of years of mistreatment. Right before Mr. Zou sent Xiaohe to Mainland China, he said “We hope that once Xiaohe arrives in Mainland China, the people there will say ‘Wow, this is a gift from Taiwan.’ We hope that he will live happily in Xiamen''.
Unfortunately that is not all. Under the recordings of Dongqing, in this zoo, black bears were as thin as monkeys, pigs were excited just to eat rotten radishes, and cubs were separated from their mothers; many first and second class protected animals were living in uncomfortably small spaces and do not have access to water - under the intense sunlight of Xiamen. Xiaohe is only a reflection of this animal graveyard.
2. a positive example in the zoo: Nanjing Red Mountain Zoo
The next zoo we are going to discuss is the Hongshan Forest Zoo in Nanjing, China, a sharp contrast to the previous zoo. On December 31st, 2022, a sun bear named Laoma passed away in Hongshan Zoo. A white "obituary" paper appeared on the wall of the bear section of the zoo covered with elegantly written words. It is a "summary of the bear's life" written collectively by all the zoo keepers for Laoma. It's hard not to be moved by this. Laoma was well cared: the average life expectancy of a sun bear is 24 years, but Laoma lived the human equivalent of about 90 years old.
Hongshan Zoo tries to provide their animals with an environment that is as close to their natural habitat as possible. For example, the wolf section encompasses more than 1000 square meters of hills. They have three levels of activity areas with many different types of habitats - mountains, forests, and even waterfalls. Each viewing spot can only see a part of the wolf section, so that there are areas where wolves can go to avoid the gaze of the humans. We can tell from the videos from the zoo that the zookeepers made sure that every wolf is properly fed. The zookeepers will first feed higher ranked wolves and then hide small bits of food for the lower ranked wolves. The higher ranked wolves, already fed, would not bother to look for food, while the lower ranked wolves would be able to eat in peace.
This tactic for feeding the wolves takes a lot of human-labor and it shows the care and patience the zookeepers have for the animals. There are many other examples like this at the Hongshan Zoo. Additionally, there are no animal performances at the Hongshan Zoo. This will certainly cause them to lose some income, but they insist on forbidding animal performance out of care and respect for the animals. Hongshan Zoo is a positive example that other zoos should learn from.
SUMMARY
Zoos should be seen as an effective and straightforward platform for people who live in the city to learn more about wild animals. Much of the world today is occupied by humans, and the fragmentation of animals' territories has led to a decline in their numbers. We should not outlaw zoos because of the countless examples like Xiaohe. If all zoos were abolished, where would the animals go? Euthanizing the animals? What we can hope for is the emergence of more zoos like the Hongshan Zoo - respecting the habits of animals and enriching the welfare of animals. Only then can zoos become a place that inspires people to love nature. As the BBC documentary "The Evolution of Life'' says: “The fact is that no species has ever had such wholesale control over everything on earth, living or dead, as we now have. That lays upon us, whether we like it or not, an awesome responsibility. In our hands now lies not only our own future, but that of all other living creatures with whom we share the earth.”
Citation
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