Luckily, we have the Tibetan Plateau.
A wild animal paradise with few people, but "feathers dazzling, hooves competing".
In such a paradise, there is a magical zoo.
It houses more than 1,100 animals and 42 keepers.
△ Ring-tailed lemur.
It is located in the northwest of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province.
It is a safari in the city.
It is also the only large-scale comprehensive wildlife park in the entire Province of Qinghai Province.
The animals in the park are "rich".
There are star families of rabbits, snow leopards, the king of snowy mountains, and only a few captive desert cats in the world.
△ Rabbit.
△ National first-class protected animal, desert cat.
The rarest wild animals are here, not only loved by thousands of people,
There are also super talk, national fans, and even a series of serials, as well as peripheral Reuters.
△ Netizens' original Song of the West Hare.
However, because it is widely complained that "too poor",
Thus obtaining the title of "China's Poorest Zoo".
Not long ago, what hung on the hot search was it.
Xining Wildlife Park (hereinafter referred to as "Xiye"),
Behind a poor, widely praised conscience zoo.
Qi Xinzhang, a native of Baoding, Hebei.
I spent nearly 10 years in Nishino.
He is now the deputy director of Nishino.
The best "agent" of rabbits and snow leopards, and the spokesperson for walking.
△ On Weibo, he named himself The Round Palm, the palm of a round snow leopard.
He is also a warrior who has been rushing to the front line of the plateau all year round to rescue wild animals.
In the past two years, Nishino has experienced a full network popularity, and has also encountered countless doubts.
Many people were puzzled at first.
A zoo deputy director with a traffic password, desperately drilling into the online world.
Seems crazy and daring.
But behind this, it is actually the whole Qinghai and even the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau wildlife world,
Slowly spreading out to us.
△ The only zoo in China that breeds rabbits, the only zoo in China that still breeds snow leopards in captivity, and the only zoo that raises desert cats
Not long ago.
We dialed director Qi Xinzhang's phone.
He confessed.
Pull yourself out of the swamp of "zoo is original sin",
By now, I have enough confidence to reconcile with myself and the zoo.
The frustration and sense of accomplishment in these 10 years,
Almost all of them come from this zoo, which is the highest altitude in the country and is also known as the "most worth visiting".
Now he defines Nishino, the update, as:
Spokesperson for wildlife on the Tibetan Plateau.
01
No matter how poor you are, you must make the animals "happy"
Xining Wildlife Park entered people's field of vision for the first time,
Poverty is one of its biggest labels.
The typical collapsible loess on the plateau is the background color of the entire zoo.
The wall of the beast's cage was cracked 20 centimeters, and the rock sheep shelter fell down as soon as the autumn wind blew;
The homes of the chicks are made of abandoned bird cages and hay weaving;
The "villa" of the geese and ducks is a water tank for 45 yuan;
Some people who go to Nishino will be disappointed,
Before leaving, you may also leave a sentence of "This is the most garbage zoo I have ever seen."
Some people can't bear it.
Some things were spontaneously sent to the park, such as cat climbing frames, Trojan horses, hair rubs, milk powder, etc., and even equipment for rescue such as ICU.
The poverty of a zoo has too many factors.
This is closely related to the economic and geographical environment of the region.
△ Snow in Xining
Nishino, built on a plateau more than 2,000 meters above sea level.
The soil is soft, and once it rains, the foundation sinks, and some of the animals' houses are in jeopardy.
In addition, the climate is dry and the vegetation is sparse.
The grass where the animals lie is also a treasure of little land.
Qi Xinzhang remembers that once the Xiamen Zoo came to communicate, when they said that the function of the Greening Department is to remove weeds.
His heart was full of envy.
Despite the difficulties, it does not hinder the conscience of a zoo, and it is reflected in some details.
Just look at the animals here.
The swing made of old tires allows monkeys to jump up and down;
Loach is hidden under the stone, so that the guy with the big legs is worried about it all day;
△ In order to wait for the loach, I guarded the perimeter of the basin for a day
The island villa built at a huge cost of 450 yuan was visited by 100 geese and ducks, which was very lively;
Afraid that the rock sheep is bored, then make a toy ball sticker;
The slides made for macaques and baboons always lead to a showmanship show;
A special predator for ring-tailed lemurs, which can not only play, but also kill time;
△ Animals without mobile phones and tablets will not be bored for a day
Oh, corn cobs to hang up and eat, only interesting;
What does it mean to eat meat in large bites, give food as a gift to the snow leopard, and let it slowly toss itself;
Food boxes made of pumpkins always arouse the curiosity of animals;
So we see the animals in the garden,
Not round and rolling;
It's chubby;
or domineering side leakage;
Or is it gaunt, lazy;
It is almost difficult to find in all of China, a zoo that reveals poverty even in the air,
Actually let the animal have so much space to choose to be happy.
visible.
Nishino's keepers didn't spare any effort.
In 2013, Qi Xinzhang was admitted to the deputy director of the zoo.
It was also this year that he began to bring other people to do abundance together.
At the time, few people knew what abundance was, let alone animal welfare.
Simply.
The work of the breeder begins with simple cleaning and feeding,
It is necessary to transform into creating more conditions for animals.
It's a brain drain, and there's not much money to do.
To put it simply, it's easy to do.
Naturally, few people were willing at first.
Qi Xinzhang began to spare no effort to popularize science, lobby, and even formulate a new reward mechanism for the park.
This matter of abundance slowly blossomed everywhere in the garden.
Each breeder can submit a fertility project certificate.
△ On April 24, 2013, the first project letter, from the head of the Primate Library, Zhang Deliang, built a moving pool for the rhesus monkeys
Brain power and handwork go hand in hand, and old toys are used to the fullest.
Most of Nishino's enrichment projects over the years are still permeated with poverty.
But kindness and love truly envelop every animal here.
△ Old tires can be seen everywhere
Improving the environment is just one of the enrichment projects.
It also includes food abundance, perceived abundance, cognitive abundance, and community abundance.
It's like being in a leopard house.
6-year-old Ling Shuang (snow leopard), and 16-year-old big tiger (snow leopard) happily hold hands.
The reason is that the keepers found that the two snow leopards felt sorry for each other and were very compatible.
So they made a cage.
△ Sleep becomes a love heart
Finding a good friend or companion for an animal like this is called community enrichment.
Up to now, Qi Xinzhang has received nearly 400 Fengrong project books.
O people on this plateau,
Still racking their brains, in limited conditions, for the animals to live happier.
02
Be a good spokesperson and cheer for them
"Only by understanding can we care." Only by caring can there be action. Only by action can there be hope."
This is the mother of chimpanzees, Jane. A quote from Ms. Goodall.
It is also the action creed of Qi Xinzhang.
Many people know that the plateau is an animal paradise, but they don't know what the unique animals are here.
If nishino's animals made their debut in groups.
△ This snow leopard is called Ao Xue and is bred by Nishino. (In addition, the animals in the park, except for the number of individuals who are not easy to identify, almost all have their own names)
Snow leopards are "first C".
In order to let the "princess" out of the circle smoothly.
Qi Xinzhang wrote a serial novel "Princess Diary" for Ao Xue, one, two and three, Xiao Hong, and also opened a super talk to call for the princess.
At that time, he had not yet thought that a bigger hit would be on a cat.
Rabbits have both the cuteness and cuteness of cats and the wild nature of not being tamed.
What is even more rare is that the domestic zoo raises rabbits, which are unique to Nishino.
Last year, the whole network chased the rabbit, and it had long surpassed the "predecessor" snow leopard.
This wild "cat" is like a rising star on the plateau,
Bring more traffic into The West Wild and the whole Qinghai wildlife world behind it.
At this point, Qi Xinzhang was very pleased.
As he said:
"Our external publicity and promotion is actually shouting and speaking out for the animals of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Because these are native species of the Tibetan Plateau,
If even we don't speak for them, they have no sound. ”
Flow is a double-edged sword.
Although, often, it is controversial and questioned, complained and criticized.
But compared to these, what makes Qi Xinzhang more afraid is:
"Our native animal, if you don't have time to understand it, it disappears, which is actually a very scary thing."
Fortunately, surprises and changes followed.
Xining Wildlife Park, there is another sign, that is, Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center.
Here, it undertakes the function of wildlife rescue in the province and is also the base for the rescue of the most plateau wildlife.
Qi Xinzhang often wrote about rescue and release as a diary.
In October of the previous year, they rescued a desert cat.
Surgery was performed on it and named Lao Huang.
Rescue stories were reported, and desert cats became widely known.
After that, the little guy made an appearance at the zoo starting in March of last year.
Basking in the sun, being seen by tourists, from the past a cry: "Oh, kittens",
It turned into the joy of the present: "Ah, this is the desert cat, that is the rabbit... It's so special, so cute."
The chain reaction continues.
△ Desert cat - old yellow
Once the desert cat was little known and was often considered a common wildcat.
From 2006 to 2020, there was not a single desert cat in captivity in the world.
They mainly live in Gansu and Qinghai, and have always been called the most mysterious cats.
In the first half of last year, it was transferred to the national level of key protected wild animals.
In less than a year since June 2021, Nishino has rescued seven or eight desert cats.
That's more than the sum of the Nishino Center's rescue of desert cats from its inception to the present.
Qi Xinzhang felt this deeply, "In the past, many front-line and grassroots people treated desert cats as wild cats, and now they are really beginning to understand this wild animal. ”
So pay attention to it, love it, protect it, rescue it.
It's on this New Year's Day.
Nishino also rescued a desert cat who ran to the villagers' house to steal chickens and was injured by the rat clip.
You see, shout, there is an echo.
△ Its name is Huang Xiaotao. After a few more days of cultivation, you can basically send it home.
03
A zoo can be no prison
Original Sin and Redemption.
It is the name of Qi Xinzhang's personal public account, and his WeChat is called Crime and Punishment.
These two words, like two big mountains, once dead pressed on Qi Xinzhang's heart.
Time back to 2012.
Qi Xinzhang, 28, has just graduated from graduate school and was admitted to the Nishino Zoo public institution.
Be a regular breeder.
He still remembered the excitement and shock of his first day in Nishino.
It's on a plateau at an altitude of 2,300 meters, and the whole mountain is a zoo, and there are so many wild animals.
He's optimistic.
After several months of dry cleaning and feeding, he was transferred to the marketing department.
Opened a microblog, but also received more voices from the Internet.
The zoo is a prison and the original sin of the zoo, like a sharp knife piercing his fantasies about the zoo.
"Zoos just take animals out of the wild and visit them to make money?" Is it true that the cultural need of human beings is to sacrifice the lives or lives of so many animals? ...... I think what they say makes a lot of sense. ”
He began to doubt himself, what he was doing, and the significance of the job at the zoo.
I thought about leaving and going back to my hometown to take the civil service examination.
By chance, he was inspired by Zhang Enquan, a teacher at the Beijing Zoo:
The welfare of animals is the basic of a zoo.
It turns out that the zoo can tear down the iron cage, let the orangutan family live in the woods by the small river, and the flocks of flamingos stand in the wetland...
It turns out that zoos can make animals live better.
"I don't deny the idea that zoos are prisons, but in my opinion, zoos can be not prisons under man-made conditions. By improving animal welfare, harnessing the value of animal protection education, little by little, to make up for human sins. ”
In the process of cognitive expansion, he also believed more firmly:
The existence of zoos is far more profound than people think.
It is the protection of endangered species, the rescue of wild animals, the breeding of wild animals, and the public science education.
This road.
As soon as Nishino left, he walked for almost 10 years.
Ice and snow, desert walking, getting up early and greedy for darkness...
Every time he rescued and released, Qi Xinzhang held a heart.
Although success or failure, half of the people, half of the life.
But when the rescued snow leopard Ling Han passed away, it still deeply stung his heart.
This is a zoo worker, with the most fragile and soft conscience at heart.
Cherish every life.
As he said, "What we're most proud of is not that we have some rare animals."
Rather, we think we are going in the right direction, doing our best to be a real zoo. ”
Last spring and March, Nishino underwent an unprecedented and perfect rescue.
The rescue target is a snow leopard.
Because on the day of the encounter, it was a sting, Ling, representing ice and snow, so this snow leopard was called Ling Sting.
Ling was found to be very weak, not only low blood calcium, but also a slight concussion.
After inspection and maintenance by breeders.
Within a few days, LingJing regained his health and was evaluated and released into the wild.
△ The state before the ling sting was released
It was a cold morning.
Qi Xinzhang and the staff chose a wide valley.
Away from the crowds, there are snow-capped mountains and meadows, where snow leopards' favorite delicacies, rock sheep, are often found.
The moment it opened the ling sting rescue cage, its head popped out first, then circled around, and then walked away slowly.
A kilometer later, I didn't expect it to stop suddenly.
Looking back at all the staff, he turned his head and ran to the snowy mountain.
The freeze frame of that moment made everyone present unforgettable.
△ Ling Sting's last glance before returning to the snowy mountains
Qi Xinzhang tried to grasp and interpret.
He said: "Maybe that last glance, there is gratitude to us, there is the joy of regaining freedom."
And they will take this as their best reward and the best motivation for the future.
You can look back at all these years.
The rescue and release often pushed Qi Xinzhang and Nishino to the cusp of the storm.
They say that we only rescue and never let go;
They say that we have worked so hard for so long, how rabbits still fail to breed;
They said how the monkeys in the zoo were so thin and were not abused;
They say it's a black heart zoo...
Qi Xinzhang, a Virgo, is rational and often patiently reasons, lays out evidence, and opens live broadcasts.
Emotionally, you will also be aggrieved to the point of being uncomfortable for several days, and slowly reconcile with yourself.
On the other end of the phone, I could feel the relief of the 38-year-old man.
"There is a person who has been persistently criticizing us for many years, to the effect that he knows that rescue, never seen to be released, whether it is a show, whether it is a fake feeling ..."
Last year, he changed his tune: "You have rescued so many snow leopards, and now you have only released one." ”
Qi Xinzhang, on the contrary, was optimistic.
Because he believes that in 5 years, 10 years, this criticism will become: 10 years, you have only released 10 snow leopards, 20 desert cats, 30 rabbits...
"Looking back, you will find that this thing, only we have done it."
"Maybe in the beginning, we were in the perspective of original sin and went to the zoo. But today is different. We've done a lot and we've been qualified to reconcile with ourselves. ”
And Nishino did.
Let people who were once reluctant to go to the zoo begin to believe that the existence of some zoos can not be prisons.
What is the meaning of the existence of zoos?
I want to qi xinzhang and Nishino.
After 10 years, another solution was found.