I have a wildlife zoo

The tourists, including Li, were shocked!

Fang Ye speaking and reasoning with the lion was just waving a slipper?

It felt like even if Zoo Director Fang had used verbal persuasion to convince the lion, it would have been more reliable than a slipper!

"Roar!"

Qiqi let out a roar, and Fang Ye made a motion as if to wave the slipper!

To the tourists' surprise, Qiqi, who initially appeared ferocious, saw the slipper coming towards him and acted as if he'd seen something utterly terrifying, panicking and leaping backwards.

After glancing at Fang Ye, he instantly became subdued and walked off to one side dejectedly.

The tourists' emotions were like riding a roller coaster; they were initially eager to see how Fang Ye would reason with the lion, became anxious when the lion turned aggressive, and now they finally breathed a sigh of relief!

"Wow!"

"Zoo Director Fang is still formidable!"

Yueyue was somewhat puzzled, what happened, Qiqi, who had just been aggressively blocking her, suddenly walked away?

Fang Ye squatted down with a smile and rubbed Yueyue's head: "Alright, go find Kaka to play with!"

Yueyue, although she didn't know how he had persuaded Qiqi to leave, was still quite happy!

She rubbed her head against Fang Ye's arm and cheerfully ran towards Kaka!

...

When Fang Ye returned to the exhibit area, the tourists started clapping enthusiastically!

"Amazing, Zoo Director!"

A curious tourist asked, "Director Fang, why were you able to scare the lion off?"

Fang Ye shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it's probably because my slippers are more frightening?"

Tang Xiaoxin pouted dissatisfied, "Hmph, Brother Fang Ye definitely has some secret trick!"

A tourist furrowed their brows, looking quite puzzled, and asked, "Director Fang, I have a question—how appropriate is it to artificially intervene in the mating and reproduction of animals?"

"Eh?"

Some tourists were taken aback by this question, also showing puzzled expressions!

Fang Ye said with a light laugh, "Why do you think it's inappropriate?"

The tourist pondered for a moment, "Director, aren't you a wildlife park? And you respect animals, shouldn't you try not to disturb them? Even if the lionesses are reluctant, isn't it an internal matter for the pride?"

Fang Ye explained, "The very term 'zoo' implies interference with animals. Whether it's a regular zoo or a wildlife park, the 'wild' doesn't mean leaving them unattended; it means the environment tries to closely resemble the wild to allow them better welfare and conditions to exhibit more natural behaviors.

So what do you say if a lioness gives birth and the male lion, thinking the cubs are not his, gets upset and wants to kill them? For lions, this is a strategy for spreading their own genes, so should we intervene or not?"

The tourist was stumped, "Oh, well..."

Fang Ye continued, "In the wild, lionesses have a strategy to protect their cubs, which involves cuckolding the male lions.

The lioness will maintain ambiguous relations with multiple males, and when one coalition falls, the lioness with cubs will turn to another coalition. Since the males can't recognize their own cubs and only recognize the lionesses they've mated with, they will also protect the cubs.

But in a zoo, this shouldn't happen.

For a zoo, an animal's genetic lineage is very important.

Of course, there are some rather poorly managed zoos that will take in any animal without a breeding plan, resulting in a mess of genetic lineages. Eventually, the animals may suffer from hereditary diseases or issues due to inbreeding, and no one knows what the problem is."

"Oh~"

Seeing the thoughtful expressions on the visitors' faces, Fang Ye raised his eyebrows: "Actually, our zoo is quite disorganized too!"

The visitors were immediately shocked!

"What?"

"Disorganized, how can it be disorganized?"

"Zoo Director Fang is well-trained; he obviously came prepared. It can't be disorganized!"

Fang Ye said: "When breeding animals in a zoo, first you need to see if they reject each other in their daily interactions, whether they find each other agreeable or not. For example, I noticed that Yueyue is interested in Kaka, and Kaka doesn't reject Yueyue, after observing this situation, then they can be considered as potential mates.

Then, after seeing that they have this intimate state, they are placed together in the same enclosure, and factors such as temperature, environment, and diet are adjusted to encourage the animals to go into heat.

When they are in the same enclosure, these two animals must be kept together constantly, not allowing other animals to interfere. You need to keep the genetic lineage clear and straightforward, to put it plainly, to make sure there are no signs of infidelity on the male lion's head!

It's not about letting them stay together freely and unfettered.

And because of the secretion of hormones, male lions may also fight and challenge each other. Although our zoo's two male lions come from the same place and have a good relationship, they might still fight, which can lead to injuries or even death.

So, it's necessary to avoid such issues as much as possible.

Our method of keeping animals has its issues. Normally, they should be separated into different exhibition areas, with male and female lions kept apart, or each male lion should be paired with one or two female lions.

But still, I hope they have more choices in love. And having such a big enclosure with different males and females moving freely, it looks nicer, doesn't it?

Like now, Yueyue is in love, so next we have to put her with Kaka and not give Qiqi any chance to interfere."

The visitors were a bit dazed as they listened, and they began to discuss among themselves: "I thought it was just a simple issue of breeding and producing offspring... Turns out the parents have to go through a selection and review process before breeding, it feels kind of strange."

"Genetic lineages, it's so complicated!"

"But after hearing what the director said, I think it makes sense!"

"Eh?" Tang Xiaoxin suddenly remembered something, "Director, with so many macaques being kept together, isn't that even more chaotic?"

"True, macaques are really difficult when it comes to maintaining genetic lineage; you can only be sure of the mother. But generally, they are introduced in groups, the numbers are large, and we also exchange them with other zoos from time to time, so genetic diversity can be ensured, and the chances of hereditary diseases are still quite low."

Fang Ye added: "Some animals, like elephants, may get along very well together, so loving towards each other, but just can't produce offspring. Zoos will make all kinds of efforts to breed them, but if they really can't reproduce, then they have to be separated and find other animals to pair with.

Isn't that kind of interference even crueler?"

"Wow!"

Some visitors showed faces of discomfort.

"Indeed, it doesn't sound pleasant. When such things happen, the animal keepers are the ones who feel the most for the animals, but there's nothing they can do.

They might even have to resort to artificial insemination to breed offspring.

Breeding animals, that is the mission of zoos, primarily to ensure a species can continue to exist and keep the fire burning. Otherwise, without ensuring their survival, we can't afford to let them love freely.

What might seem cruel to the individual may be merciful to the species as a whole. That's why people say zoos have an original sin."

Fang Ye scratched his head: "This has gotten a little heavy, hasn't it? Look at those two lions over there, aren't they getting along quite happily?"

On the distant grassland, Yueyue was still courting Kaka, presenting her hindquarters to him, and Kaka, sniffing with his nose, seemed to detect a subtle and unusual scent.