I have a wildlife zoo

Pingping pushed the bottom of the mud pit with her feet and moved a little deeper!

Her nose seemed to have a mind of its own, flinging joyfully left and right, sending splatters of mud flying everywhere.

The elephant's massive and robust body rolled in the mud pond like a baby, showing a charming and adorable posture, creating a wonderfully cute contrast!

The tourists were overjoyed and couldn't stop laughing.

At this moment, Fang Ye started his timely explanation, "Mud baths, including for elephants, are a behavior common to many animals!

Does everyone know 'Peppa Pig'? In the first episode, it talks about how Peppa likes to jump in the mud, and everyone enjoys jumping in the mud!"

The children suddenly got excited!

"Wow, Brother Fang Ye, do you watch 'Peppa Pig' too?"

Fang Ye smiled and said, "I watch it occasionally. Elephants roll in the mud or water, or they use their trunks to suck up the mud and spray it over themselves.

Their wrinkled skin has creases that are good for retaining water. After a mud bath, the mud sticking to their body doesn't immediately fall off, allowing the water in the mud to slowly evaporate, which can have a long-lasting effect in cooling them down.

At the same time, the mud coating can prevent their skin from cracking, block ultraviolet rays, and protect against annoying insects like mosquitoes and ticks.

After a mud bath, elephants usually find a rock or tree to rub their ears and legs against to even out the mud."

"Oh~"

The tourists let out sounds of amazed admiration.

"I thought it was just for fun."

"Feels like it's like we're applying a face mask!"

"Interesting!"

Fang Ye said, "It's not just practical, sometimes it really is just for fun, meeting their emotional needs.

Even after having dinner, you might still want a little snack, maybe some skewers for a late-night treat, right?

Mud baths and playing in the water are important entertainment and team-building activities for elephants; having a bath together can enhance the bond between family members.

Does anyone know about the legend of the elephant graveyard?"

Gao Kaijin excitedly said, "I've heard of it! According to the legend, when an elephant feels its time is running short, it will instinctively leave the herd and go to a mysterious place to wait for death alone."

Wu Jiancong chimed in, "This mysterious place is called the elephant graveyard, where many elephant skeletons are buried. It's a famous unsolved mystery that elephants can find but people never can. I believed it when I was a kid, but thinking about it now, it seems far-fetched, what with satellites hanging in the sky and all."

Zhu Yu half believed and half doubted, "I read a 'Black Cat Detective' storybook when I was little, which said that an elephant mother, knowing she was about to die, tearfully said goodbye to her calf and reluctantly walked away. It made me cry many nights. Is it all fake?"

Liu Wei said, "Oh! I know, 'The Lion King' has an elephant graveyard, not a lot of screen time, but I remember it very well."

Seeing the enthusiastic response in the discussion among the tourists, Fang Ye said, "Everyone must have heard of it, right!

In fact, there is no so-called elephant graveyard, but elderly or sick elephants do prefer to stay by mud ponds or rivers because these bodies of water have tall trees for shade and fresh branches to eat, making it a suitable place for retirement.

A friend of mine who studies elephants, they were trying to anesthetize an elephant to put a collar on it, and in the last moment before the anesthesia took effect, the male elephant lay down in a mud pit.

For elephants, such a choice doesn't have any deep meaning; it might think it's about to die and wants to find a comfortable place to lie down in what it believes are his last moments."

"So that's where the elephant graveyard myth comes from!" Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

"Somehow, I am moved. It seems that elephants are truly intelligent and emotional animals," said one visitor.

Fang Ye said, "There's another theory that the elephant graveyard is a place where poachers drive elephants together and collectively shoot them or poison them, leading to the death of many elephants at once.

Speaking of this, wasn't there an incident a couple of years ago where over 300 elephants mysteriously died en masse near a watering hole in Africa?

At first, there were suspicions that it was the work of poachers, but later laboratory investigations indicated that it was due to the neurotoxin from blue-green algae in the water.

Normally, the blue-green algae, when at normal levels, does not harm, nor does it kill elephants. But when there are nutrient-rich conditions, leading to explosive growth, that's when you get 'algal bloom,' resulting in water degradation, toxins, and foul smells.

Ultimately, it's the sewage from local industrial and agricultural production that flows into lakes and rivers, causing the abnormal growth of blue-green algae, and the elephant deaths occur when the toxins from the algae enter their bodies as they drink and bathe."

The visitors had been listening to Fang Ye talk about the legend of the elephant graveyard with great interest.

But when Fang Ye mentioned poachers and the elephant deaths caused by algal blooms, everyone felt a bit upset.

"Hey, every time I learn about these things, I feel like we humans are committing crimes!" exclaimed a visitor.

"Over where I live, there was an algal bloom before! The water surface was covered in green sludge like paint, and it stank terribly. It was really disgusting," another visitor commented.

"I never thought that algal blooms not only inconvenience human life but also have such a significant impact on animals." said another.

Liu Wei couldn't help but think of the small farm in the zoo, where organic rice grew robustly!

The manure from the animals was fermented into organic fertilizer, nourishing the healthy growth of crops, and ducks, not pesticides, were used to control pests.

He suddenly gained a deeper understanding of the words "nature-friendly" described on the exhibit sign.

Actually, there are ways to live in harmony with nature.

Pingping was still playing in the mud pit, and at that moment, Bobo walked toward the mud pond as well.

She didn't kneel down like Pingping. She suffered from lack of exercise over the long term which caused her joints to be stiff, making it uncomfortable to perform large knee-bending movements.

She lowered her head and prodded the edge with her trunk to ensure there were no trenches below before slowly stepping into the mud pond.

Cautiously, she took a couple more steps forward, standing in the mud pond, then sucked up a clump of mud-water with her trunk and sprayed it over her back.

Compared to the lively and rolling Pingping, her demeanor was much more composed!

After all, at over forty years old, she counted as a grandmother in the herd.

Of course, there were even older members in the group, the great-grandmothers, and the great-great-grandmothers.

Despite her composed demeanor, Bobo had her mouth wide open, her eyes curved into crescents, looking very happy, flapping her ears. It seemed that even her wrinkles had smoothed out quite a bit.

One could tell she was quite pleased with the new zoo having a mud pond.

It was as if she had worked hard in a factory for a lifetime and was finally retired, ready to enjoy life!

That must be the feeling.

Pingping seemed quite happy as well to have Bobo join her in the mud bath.

It's better to be happy together than alone.

Her trunk curled and reached out toward Bobo as a gesture of welcome.