I have a wildlife zoo

Meiling and Meilan weren't necessarily good friends just because they came from the same elephant camp; making friends among elephants depends on personality and is more complex than with humans, and their feelings are even purer.

It just so happened that these two got along well.

If they liked each other, they would often stay together, walk and wander around together, and eat together. If not, they would display aggression when together.

For instance, when in the back shed, Meiling and Meilan liked to sleep huddled against each other, while Pingping preferred lying near Bobo.

When Pingping approached, Bobo extended his trunk first, touching Pingping's trunk, then raised his trunk and stroked Pingping's head back and forth, like an adult patting a child's head, signaling friendliness.

Pingping also touched trunks with Bobo, flapping her ears, and seemed very happy, opening her mouth and emitting a series of low rumbles.

These low rumbles, if you were close enough, could be heard, but the visitors outside the moat couldn't hear them.

Fang Ye could only tell by the open mouths of Pingping and Bobo that they were communicating.

"The elephant that just walked over is named Pingping, and she's one of the earliest elephants to arrive at our zoo! Right now, she is greeting Bobo. This touching of trunks is a form of elephant greeting, a sign of a friendly relationship,"

Pingping looked at Meiling and Meilan, stretched out her trunk as if to greet them like a human extending a hand.

Hi! Isn't the weather great today?

Meilan glanced at Pingping without much reaction, while Meiling stared at her, spread her ears, and scraped the ground with her front foot.

Don't bother us if there's nothing wrong!

Pingping quickly curled her trunk back, looking pitifully aggrieved as she stepped backward.

So friendly to greet you, and you scare me.

Bobo opened his mouth, letting out a series of low rumbles, as if trying to mediate the situation.

We all come from different places; it's fate that brought us to Linhai Zoo! The environment here is so great, we should cherish our current lives and live together in harmony, without conflicts.

Bobo, being large and old, was quite respected.

Meiling was initially somewhat unreceptive, but Meilan reached out her trunk, touched Meiling's, and they communicated with open mouths.

Oh, well, never mind then, Bobo is right!

With Meilan's pacification, Meiling gradually calmed down.

Fang Ye watched the elephants interacting and explained the meaning of their behaviors to the visitors.

The visitors found it interesting, listening to him explaining how Bobo and Pingping were on friendly terms and how Meiling and Meilan were good friends; Meiling threateningly confronting Pingping, while Bobo played the peacemaker.

The elephants had such complex social relationships?

Then, Bobo raised his trunk and started to repetitively strike a net bag hanging overhead!

The net bag swung to and fro like a pendulum. With each hit, bits of dry, yellowed material sprinkled down.

While Bobo struck the net bag, elephants like Pingping and Meilan also extended their trunks and rolled up the items to eat. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

Liu Wei speculated that it was probably a type of food enrichment!

Onlookers marveled at the elephants feeding, exclaiming, "Wow, that trunk! Just like an extension of their body, so flexible!"

"It seems like whatever our hands can do, these elephants' trunks can do too! Awesome!"

"And the strength is impressive as well!"

Someone curiously asked, "Director, what is that?"

Fang Ye replied with a smile, "Inside the net bag, there's some hay! Hanging the net bag up high, the elephants need to lift their heads and stretch their trunks to get the food."

The action of raising their heads can exercise the muscles of the front chest and back, as well as the most important part of an elephant, the trunk, which is very helpful for their health.

When one elephant taps the net bag, other elephants can also get food. Such a feeding method can promote unity within the herd, making their relationships even more harmonious."

Liu Wei couldn't help but exclaim, "This enrichment is really awesome!"

Gao Kaijin watched the feeding elephants and felt a bittersweet emotion.

There are also elephants kept in the zoo of his hometown!

The activity area is around 500 square meters, and the ground is all cement.

The elephants inside were shaking their heads and swaying their trunks when he visited.

Some adults told children that the elephants were dancing.

Gao Kaijin didn't quite understand before and just felt that the environment was quite monotonous and the elephants seemed bored.

However, thinking that a zoo can't compare to the wild, there was nothing that could be done.

After visiting Linhai Zoo and listening to the animal keepers' explanations and reading the educational display boards, he learned about concepts like animal welfare, enrichment, stereotypical behavior, and natural behaviors!

He realized that the rocking and swaying of the elephants in his hometown zoo was probably due to stereotypy.

Seeing the elephants at Linhai Zoo walking on sandy ground, digging food hidden inside cement pillars, spraying water at visitors, and raising their trunks to slap the dry straw in the air.

The zoo's environment could actually be like this? And could offer such enrichment?

Suddenly, he found a newfound interest in elephants and wanted to learn more about them.

How do they play normally, what can their long trunks and big ears do, and what stories do they have?

At the same time, he felt a pang of pity for the elephants back in his hometown zoo!

Alas, it's not that one doesn't appreciate what one has, it's that one feels worse when comparing.

Fang Ye pointed at the device with the hay net bags and said with a smile, "In our elephant pavilion, the animal keepers can hang up the hay outside the exhibition area and lift it up using these hoists.

Once the hay in one place is gone, more appears in another place. The elephants will continuously move around the pavilion, searching and feeding, just like they would in the wild.

Enough walking is very important for elephants!

Captive elephants generally suffer from insufficient exercise, which can cause uneven wear on their foot pads and toenails, damaging the nail beds."

Although there are now ways to trim their toenails, this is similar to dieting: one method is by exercising, while the other is through diet teas or liposuction. Obviously, exercising is the healthier way to lose weight.

Of course, enough walking also depends on having sand as bedding material in the elephant pavilion.

Only sand or mud pits can provide the friction needed to wear down their feet, while the smooth surface of concrete is ineffective. Staying on it for too long can lead to serious foot diseases in elephants.

When choosing sand, there is also a particular standard to follow; common sand can cause compaction, so the sand used in the activity area is river sand bought from the system, which has good permeability and can quickly absorb water and elephant urine.

Moreover, river sand has been washed by rivers and lacks sharp edges, being round and blunt, it's more comfortable for elephants to lie on when they sleep at night.

The visitors widened their eyes as Fang Ye explained.

"Wow!"

"Awesome!"

Liu Wei couldn't help saying to his friends, "I saw the first layer and knew it was food enrichment. I thought that was the second layer, but actually, this zoo is on the fifth layer!"

It can increase the elephants' interest in feeding, exercise their muscles, foster harmony within the herd, and even keep them on the move to wear down their feet.

This enrichment is too brilliant. If the director hadn't mentioned it, he would never have thought of so many benefits.