I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 402: Deceiving the Kids

Meng Shi began to recount the original story, "The gatekeeper’s gaze was as sharp as lightning, and he noticed at once that something was off about this visitor!

Because back then, our zoo was quite run-down and didn’t have anything particularly valuable.

The zoo director suspected that someone might be eyeing Ice Cake, intending to steal the little White Tiger. So, he summoned a group of us, ready to catch the tiger thief."

The children listened with righteous indignation, "Bad person!"

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"Such a big villain!"

"Did they catch them?"

Meng Shi fell into a reverie and said, "Our director is an Archdruid, and he summoned all the animals in the zoo. The alpacas lined up in four rows of three, and with a wave of his hand, the director said, ’All of you go patrol around the zoo.’ And the alpacas set off on patrol.

Brother Aotian stayed behind, kept inside the enclosure because he has a very tempestuous temper. If he saw a thief, he would have gone straight for a fight.

Then the director took two wolves and lay in wait below... as the night gradually fell..."

When Meng Shi first interacted with the children, they were a bit frightened by his bear-like sturdy build!

Hiding behind their parents, let alone listening to his scientific talks.

Meng Shi felt quite awkward and later on thought about finding a more affable and friendly approach so as not to scare the children!

He noticed that the director was very popular with the children, so he decided to break through on this point, telling stories about the director’s close interactions with animals and trying to exaggerate the plots a bit. The effect turned out to be quite good.

Now the children were listening with keen interest!

The parents were amused by the stories, but if Fang Ye were standing here boasting, they might have been half-doubting.

"At night, as the moon rose, a white alpaca came running over, it was Carslan.

Its bright, sparkling big eyes were filled with a frightened glow. It must have seen something untoward.

It spoke quietly with the director for a moment, and the director nodded and said, ’I know! The tiger thief has really come!’

...

In the end, the bad guys were caught and handed over to the police and got the punishment they deserved by law!"

Having cared for the alpacas for so long, Meng Shi naturally didn’t forget to give more play to the alpacas in his stories. Both Brother Aotian and Carslan got their time in the spotlight.

He casually boasted a bit about himself too, portraying one of the tiger thieves as a muscular and strong man, who battled with him for a long time before finally being knocked down by his punch.

The children clapped joyfully, "Yay!"

"That’s so great!"

"So awesome!"

He certainly seemed much more appealing to them now.

Actually, other animal keepers also had similar methods, such as the bird pavilion keepers, who sometimes held a peafowl feather or some other bird’s feather during explanations to attract the children’s attention.

Meng Shi laughed and said, "Let’s look at this next, and see what the old tiger exhibit looked like."

He led the group a few steps further, and the photo on this display board showed a concrete enclosure and floor, looking very old and worn.

There was also a picture of Jiaojiao lying listlessly in the enclosure, turning her head to look outside.

Meng Shi explained, "This was our old enclosure, does it look very shabby? This is the state it was in when our director first took over the zoo. It was empty, not even a piece of wood for claw sharpening.

I used to think that this was just how a zoo was supposed to be, right?

But the director told me that actually, a zoo’s environment should be like a slice of wilderness cut out and brought in.

A piece of forest, a lake, a river, where animals can live comfortably and happily, and exhibit natural behaviors, conveying more scientific information to everyone. That’s what a zoo should really look like.

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Tigers can swim; they are excellent swimmers, they can climb trees—a tree over three meters tall they can scramble up in no time, and they will also rub against trees to mark their territory. Without water or trees, how can tigers demonstrate their natural behavior?

Our usual work is not only feeding the animals, but also finding ways to provide them with more opportunities for activities..."

The visitors nodded in agreement repeatedly, "Indeed!"

"I never knew a zoo could be like this before!"

"If all zoos were as good as you guys, nobody would dislike them."

"And the admission is too darn expensive."

Besides the photos of the old tiger exhibit, there are also pictures of the behavior training cages at the new tiger exhibit back house!

In the photos, Jiaojiao moves toward the target stick, happily eating meat, not sullen and icy, but rather lying on the ground reluctantly.

Meng Shi then explained to the visitors how they trained the tigers, noting that recently the progress has been good, as Jiaojiao has started to comply with Bao’s simple movement commands.

The visitors were amazed.

"This is the first time I knew that tigers need training!"

"This is interesting."

"Haha, just wanting to eat meat and not willing to follow instructions, humans and animals are the same."

"I also want to lie at home and not work!"

The following displays were about conservation!

Meng Shi emphasized why it is important to protect tigers: "Tigers are the apex predators of the food chain, and by preying on herbivores like boar and deer, they can maintain a healthy, balanced state in the forest ecosystem.

If these animals become overabundant, the vegetation is excessively consumed, and eventually, the entire forest suffers, with disease spreading and water sources being contaminated, which affects humans as well.

Now, we can look at some forests that seem fine without tigers, but it’s just like the human body. You might not feel much if you lose a tooth, but if you lost all your teeth, you wouldn’t be able to eat, right?

If you have a stomach ulcer, it might not seem like a big deal, but if you suffer from high blood pressure, insomnia, back pain, stomach pain, liver pain, these small issues add together, don’t they turn into a big problem? Once it goes beyond a certain limit, illness comes crushing in, and it can overwhelm a person all at once.

The more complex the ecosystem, the healthier it is and the better able it is to face challenges.

Change isn’t sudden—with one less species, two less species, or one species overpopulating—it’s just like minor ailments in our body, the impact is not immediately apparent, but it may gradually become evident over time."

This metaphor was vivid, and after hearing it, the visitors showed thoughtful expressions.

Several displays depicted the changes in tiger distribution with maps and figures, and some key events were marked.

However, Meng Shi didn’t narrate these displays, letting the visitors explore them on their own.

The numbers were too heartbreaking; it was better for everyone to maintain a good mood during the New Year.

Dongdong’s mother gasped after looking for a while, "In a hundred years, from a hundred thousand tigers to just 4,000? There are fewer than 30 wild tigers in our country? Is the South China tiger extinct in the wild?"

Almost every zoo has tigers, and she had never worried about tigers before, but she didn’t expect the situation of wild tigers to be so dire.

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She thought there were still many of them.

On Meng Shi’s side, he was moving on to the next event, saying with a smile, "Now, I’ll ask a few questions about tigers, and everyone is encouraged to answer. If you want to respond, just raise your hand, and there will be a reward if you get it right!"

"Please listen to the question. The first one: Can tigers climb trees?"

"I know, I know!"

"Yes, they can, they can!"

A bunch of excited kids roared as they raised their hands, and even adults raised their hands to answer!

Everyone raised their hands at about the same time, and Meng Shi picked from a wide range, obviously not choosing adults for such a simple question. However, if an adult was very eager and kept raising their hand, he wouldn’t hesitate to throw out a couple of more challenging questions.

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