"In addition to humans, animals can also use and make tools."
This seemingly simple fact was not common knowledge 60 years ago. At that time, people firmly believed that the basic characteristic of distinguishing between humans and animals was that humans could use and make tools, while animals could not.
Subverting this view is a woman, Jane Goodall.
The field of animal studies in the 1960s was also the home of male researchers. Jane Goodall, who was in her 20s at the time, out of her strong interest in animals and the disdain of others for natural research on urban women, broke the long-standing understanding of humans with surprising discoveries, and then she focused on chimpanzee field research for a long time, revealing many little-known secrets in the chimpanzee community.
Photo by National Geographic Creative by Hugo Van Lawick
Jane Goodall has been described by National Geographic as "redefining the feminine of humanity while defining the role of women in environmental protection." Today, in the field of animal protection in China, more and more women are also defining themselves.
Today is International Women's Day, and Pandapia interviewed four representative women in particular. With the headline "WOMEN Here", take a look at the little-known female forces that are constantly paying in the field of animal protection.
Liang Hongying is a "post-70s", native of Dujiangyan, Sichuan, and now works at the Dujiangyan Pipe and Conservation Station in the Chengdu area of the Giant Panda National Park, and is a ranger. In 1990, she graduated from Sichuan Agricultural University majoring in forestry, which was particularly rare among college students in that era. After the establishment of Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve in 1997, she began to patrol her professional counterpart.
However, the job was not what she had envisioned. "My family is rural, and behind my home is a big mountain, but that's the first time I've seen a big mountain like that." Women's physical strength is not as good as men's, but when they go up the mountain together, they can't always be taken care of, climbing the mountain with weights, sleeping on the floor wrapped in sleeping bags, and in the spirit of teamwork, Liang Hongying has overcome many difficulties. "I can't drag my feet!" She said firmly.
Liang Hongying (first from left)
"We were short of people at that time, and you had to go up if you didn't go up." Just after giving birth to a child, liang Hongying was about to go up the mountain, and Liang Hongying also flinched. On the one hand, the understanding and support of her family, on the other hand, her own perseverance, "after crying her nose will also go up", she has been a guide for scientific researchers for more than 20 years, participated in field investigations, and done publicity and education work in the community. "I've done everything in the reserve." She said.
Liang Hongying (first from right)
From nature reserves to giant panda national parks, Liang Hongying laughs and says she has witnessed history. Now there are a lot of young people on the management and protection station, and the conditions are better than before, and even use drones. This year, Liang Hongying is 52 years old, she retired from the front line, when asked "do you still want to go up the mountain to patrol", she could not hide the excitement: "Want to go, or want to go up, want to go to the mountain to walk around." ”
Unconsciously, the patrolling mountains became her second "home". She has a fragile side, but she proves with resilience and perseverance that women can also be rangers, and they have been doing it for more than 20 years.
Yang Yamei, "post-80s", this year is her 20th year as a giant panda "nurse" at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. Giant panda "nursing mother", as the name suggests, Yang Yamei is responsible for the breeding of giant pandas at the Chengdu Panda Base.
Raising baby pandas, after 20 years, there will always be times when you are tired, right? "Not at all, every boy has a different personality, every day is very new, fresh." To say that the most impressive "Zaizai", Yang Yamei recalled: "When I first worked, I raised pandas for the first time, and I took care of Yaxing and Ya's sisters, and I also worried a lot at that time. For the first time, Yang Yamei felt a sense of accomplishment at work.
In 2008, Yang Yamei and her colleagues were sent to Wakayama Shirahama Wildlife Park in Japan to deliver babies to Yoshihama, who was a first-time mother. "At that time, the pressure was still great, and Ryohama was the first child, worried about whether it could produce milk normally." Yang Yamei admitted that she was too worried to sleep at that time.
Under normal circumstances, the hormone level of giant pandas can be predicted by collecting urine, but in the final moments of production, people still need to be monitored all the time. In the nursery season of giant panda keepers, staying up late is the norm, and the keepers are "three shifts", often unable to go home for several months. Faced with the physical torture of lack of sleep, Yang Yamei also thought about giving up. "When I'm most tired, I can talk to my colleagues and fall asleep on my desk." She said.
Nursery work at Chengdu Panda Base
Spending time with pandas every day, compared to less time with family. "My husband is a college teacher, has winter and summer vacations, and really shares a lot." Yang Yamei said that many people say that women should focus on the family in the middle of family and career, but if they can get the understanding and support of their families, it is not impossible to shine in their work.
I have been doing giant panda breeding work for 20 years, with large pandas, there are not hundreds, there are dozens. "Garden, Garden, Runjiu, three generations of their grandchildren, all brought up by me, feel old." Yang Yamei smiled and issued such an exclamation. 20 years of perseverance, from every newborn panda baby, she can relive the original intention of this job.
Peng Peila, a "post-80s" Beijing girl, is now working as a keeper at the Hongshan Forest Zoo in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. She has loved animals since she was a child, and the university chose the small animal medical major of South China Agricultural University, and after working, she has more understanding of animal welfare and abundance, and this work experience has given her the opportunity to travel to Australia to learn more advanced animal protection concepts.
"In the Australian zoos where I work, the percentage of female keepers is 80 per cent or more." In the inherent impression, the breeder is a manual work, a job that men should do. In fact, animals, like people, are complex living organisms, and there are many small emotions that need to be cared for and noted. At this time, women's careful sensitivity, empathy, and empathy have become advantages. The more gender-friendly design and use of machinery has made some jobs that used to be operated only by strong men safer and more convenient, and the advantages of female breeders in the industry have been revealed.
After returning to China, she heard that the Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo especially welcomed keepers with new ideas and new ideas, and Peng Peila felt that it would be a place for her to show her fists. There, she raised many animals, including timid roe deer and baby chamois, old and frail Malay bears, rescued red fox wild boar... In the face of more vulnerable animals, she can always find a way to make them better off.
"Recently, I was always worried about when the hibernating Yangzi crocodiles would wake up, and these two days finally warmed up, probably feeling the change in water temperature, 4 Yangzi crocodiles woke up, and it was really happy at that moment." From Pembella's excited tone, we can feel how happy it is that what we love and insist on has come to fruition.
"I have a lot of like-minded friends at work now, and I want to face more challenges together in the future." Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo now has more than half of the female breeders, most of whom are "post-80s", "post-90s", and even "post-00s". Like Pembella, these young female breeders, because they love to get together, will collide with more zoo possibilities.
Chen Jingyu, a "post-90s", grew up in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and now works as a protector in a village in Yunnan. Chen Jingyu, a member of Yunshan Conservation, a non-profit organization based in Dali, Yunnan, hopes to raise local awareness of "neighbor" gibbons by doing community conservation.
Chen Jingyu admits that the first time he dreamed of doing animal protection work at the age of 17 was because he read the story of Jane Goodall. But soon, he was dissuaded by his family, "What animal protection does a girl do"? Full of love and yearning for animal protection, she was "not very mature at that time", so she failed to convince her family. But instead of giving up on her dream, she joined the Fuzhou Bird Watching Association and tried to do things related to animal protection.
The old dean of college encouraged Chen Jingyu to boldly pursue his dreams. "Probably seeing my enthusiasm, I am really lucky to have the support of such elders around me." Chen Jingyu said that he successfully crossed the field of species protection when he was studying for graduate school, and also learned the story of Yunnan's protection of gibbons through a friend's chance. At this time, she is much more mature, no longer only a love, she learned to "plan" for love, she made a detailed future plan to her family, seeing her thinking like this, the voice of her family's opposition is obviously much smaller.
When I really came to Yunnan, everything was full of luck. Girls from coastal cities, to remote inland villages, have no other people's discomfort. "The life in the village evokes the memories of the old house of childhood." Chen Jingyu said that she and a girl named "Bi Cun" in the local village saw each other as they were, and with the help of Bi Cun, she quickly mingled with the villagers in the village.
Chen Jingyu (middle)
In public welfare organizations such as "Yunshan Protection", the members are mostly "post-90s" foreign girls, who are "warriors" who "love to withstand all kinds of hardships". At present, "Yunshan Conservation" is also developing local members in villages protected by the community.
Chen Jingyu likes to eat hot pot with the girls in the village to talk, "The Lisu people were more subtle at the beginning and did not like to express themselves, and now they will also talk about their own views." The community protection work led by Chen Jingyu has been recognized by the local government and villagers.
Chen Jingyu (first from the right)
Chen Jingyu plans to study for a doctorate in the future to explore the protection of primates. She said: "Girls should not be hit by the opposition of others, when you choose a direction you love, all the obstacles will turn into assists." ”
Four women, four animal protection workers stories, different occupations, regions and eras have bred their own unique adherence, attitude and pursuit, as if connecting a development line of animal protection in China.
But that's not all we've said.
Behind these stories, those that are not unique to women, but are extremely real—the tenacity, bravery, and strength of life empathy—are all the more worthy of being seen.
The world is so big that we believe that every place where there is life, there must be "her" light.
Finally, I wish every ordinary and brave woman a happy holiday!
【Special Planning】
pandapia
【Special thanks】
Chengdu Management Branch of Giant Panda National Park
Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo
Cloud Mountain Protection
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