In the past year, a small elephant named "Molly" has touched the hearts of many people.
The 6-year-old was once the much-anticipated "elephant princess" in the Kunming Zoo, but later she became a tool for animal performance in Jiaozuo, Henan Province, thousands of miles away. Along with it, in addition to anklets and elephant hooks, there are scars and pain.
Since last year, the call to "save Molly the Little Elephant" has never stopped. The topic of #Saving the Little Elephant Molly on Weibo has been read by more than 300 million people and discussed by more than 400,000 people.
Things are finally moving forward this week. On May 15, the Henan Forestry Bureau issued an announcement saying that Molly had now left Qinyang and would be sent back to her original home, Kunming Zoo.
Molly the Elephant can finally go home. Today, we want to tell the story of this Asian elephant.
"Elephant Princess" was interrupted in childhood
At about 2:00 a.m. on March 20, 2016, Mo Po, an Asian elephant at the Kunming Zoo, suddenly became agitated. It kept squatting and looked very painful.
This anomaly started a few days ago. Around March 17, keepers noticed that the pregnant female elephant had become agitated and had milk spilled — a sign that the Asian elephant was about to give birth.
At 3:01 a.m. on the 20th, Mo Po successfully gave birth to a female baby elephant, which was later Molly. Baby elephants are 1 meter tall and weigh 100 kilograms at birth.
It kept trying to stand, fell down again, and after about an hour or two of repetition, the baby elephant learned to stand and walk. But the baby elephant, who was looking for milk, had not been able to successfully suck on the mother elephant's nipple. In order to help Molly, the staff temporarily fixed one of Mo Po's feet, repeatedly adjusted the posture, and finally let the newborn drink colostrum.
Molly, who was just born
Molly is Mopo's fifth child. Although Mo Po is not the first time to give birth, the 36-year-old is like an "advanced maternal mother". The Asian elephant was pregnant for 22 months, and in the past two years, Mo Po suffered a lot, could not sleep well, and could only rest against the wall when he was sleepy.
After giving birth to Molly, Mo Po broke the record for the number of Asian elephants bred by Yalong, another female elephant in the park, in the national zoo, and became the "heroic mother" of the employees.
When Molly was a few months old, the Kunming Zoo made a special video of her. At that time, it would occasionally fall when it walked.
In the growth of young Asian elephants, the mother elephant plays an extremely important role. Relying on the care and tutelage of the mother elephant, the fragile baby elephant can grow up safely and learn to survive.
Like the other baby elephants, Molly was very dependent on her mother. Most of the time, it was inseparable from Mo Po's side, feeding, playing, and sleeping. Less than half a year after her birth, Molly had already imitated her mother's feeding behavior. Kunming Zoo praised it, "learning and behavior skills greatly surpassed that of elephants of the same age."
Mom Mo Po and daughter Molly
As the first third-generation Asian elephant bred at Kunming Zoo, Molly is highly regarded. On the fourth day after its birth, it was reported by CCTV; three months after its birth, the zoo held a 100-day banquet for it and opened its name to the public.
Asian elephant families are generally respected as "matrilineal". In order to reflect the kinship between members of the Asian elephant family, the Kunming Zoo recommends that the public name the baby elephant follow the Mopo surname, starting with the word "Mo". After the announcement, citizens inside and outside the province enthusiastically submitted articles, and even some submitted articles from Hong Kong thousands of kilometers away.
On March 19, 2017, the zoo celebrated the baby elephant's first birthday and announced the name result "Molly", taking the harmonic sound of "Jasmine", which means pure and idyllic.
Molly's first birthday
On that day, the zoo prepared a "birthday cake" made of sugar cane, apples, watermelons and other ingredients, with a diameter of up to 1 meter, and the watermelon on the top of the cake was also intimately peeled. In the uniform "Happy Birthday Song", the shy Molly appeared in front of the public accompanied by Mo Po.
It has grown a lot compared to when it was first born, reaching a height of 1.5 meters and gaining a weight of 150 kilograms. Under the gaze of everyone, Molly slowly paced to the "cake" and enjoyed the carefully prepared food, like a princess who was loved by thousands of people.
Asian elephants live an average of 60 to 70 years, with young elephants breastfeeding for up to 5 years, and sexual maturity often between 10 and 15 years. According to this calculation, Molly is a veritable "elephant baby". However, at the age of two, this childhood peace was suddenly broken.
1 and a half years old Molly
Baby elephant far away "married"
A year after her first birthday, Molly, who has just turned 2, will be sent to Qinyang, Henan.
Kunming Zoo explained to the public that the move was to adjust blood relations. "With the development of the park, the number of Asian elephants has increased, and the blood relationship has become closer and closer, and everyone knows that humans do not advocate the marriage of close relatives, and the same applies to the breeding of Asian elephants."
In order to optimize racial breeding, Kunming Zoo decided to send Molly to qinyang Swan Lake Ecological Park. At the same time, a male elephant "Ninth Class" will also be moved from Qinyang to Kunming in exchange.
The ninth class that came to Kunming from Qinyang, judging from its size, was much older than Molly.
In the early morning of April 14, 2018, the ninth class successfully arrived at the new home. Kunming Zoo hoisted it into the cage through a crane, isolated and raised for observation, and said to the outside world, "The ninth class here has successfully registered, but our Molly over there is ready to marry away." ”
In order to allow Molly to adapt to leaving her mother as soon as possible after arriving in Qinyang, the keepers began to exercise her "independent ability" from the age of one and a half years old, including the milk of the mother elephant who no longer nursed, and a series of cage training such as tethered foot chains.
The day after the ninth class arrived in Spring City, Molly, who was still breastfeeding, also shouldered the "special mission of asian elephant population construction" and was hoisted by crane to Qinyang, a thousand-year-old county.
Molly with a ankle chain for training
In fact, this is not the first time that Kunming Zoo has exchanged Asian elephants for breeding purposes.
Molly's half-sister "Obao" traveled a long way to "marry" to Shijiazhuang. Born in 2007, Obao is the second child of Mo Po and the male elephant Zhongbo. Coinciding with the Olympic Year, it was named Obao.
In May 2014, under the animal swap agreement signed between Kunming Zoo and Shijiazhuang Zoo, 7-year-old Obao will be exchanged to leave. At that time, the elephant house of Shijiazhuang Zoo had not been born for a long time, and an Asian elephant was urgently needed to help breed.
In order to invite Obao, Shijiazhuang Zoo sent a "dowry" worth more than 1 million yuan to Kunming Zoo: 13 species of rare animals including giraffes, African lions, jackals, tigers, northern goats, rock sheep, etc.
Orboy also lived up to expectations. Five years later, it gave birth to a small Asian elephant for the Shijiazhuang Zoo.
Carrying the loading process of Orbo, it is about to leave home and mom.
As a nationally protected animal, the Asian elephant is rare and scarce, and today there are only about 300 on the mainland. In 2016, the year Molly was born, the Kunming Zoo raised a total of 10 Asian elephants, ranking first among the urban zoos in China.
In fact, the Kunming Zoo began to raise asian elephants as early as 1978, and has repeatedly supported Asian elephants in cities outside the province. Between 1986 and 1994, the Kunming Zoo bred five baby elephants, leaving two to be domesticated in the park, and the remaining three to zoos in Beijing, Shanghai and Jinan.
Elephants are the "star animals" in the park, and the logo of Kunming Zoo is also composed of elephants.
Molly, the elephant princess of Kunming Zoo, traveled to Henan, losing the protection of her mother Mo Po and the aura of the pearl in her hand. Gradually, there was less and less information about Molly. When it reappeared in public, it was already a suspected abusive acting elephant.
Save the baby elephant Molly
In August 2021, some tourists found Molly's figure at the Jiaozuo Forest Zoo (Note: Qinyang is a county and city under Jiaozuo). In a video captured by tourists, five-year-old Molly, whose hairs on her head are not faded, is pacing back and forth, playing with her elephant trunk rolled up in a harmonica.
As more and more videos about Molly sprang up on the Internet, netizens found that Molly also performed animal performances in Places such as Zhoukou Wildlife World, Qinyang City, and Raw Forest Animal Park (the same as Qinyang Swan Lake Ecological Park).
Molly's performances include: playing the harmonica, standing on both legs, handstanding, turning hula hoops, etc. In addition, tourists can spend dozens of dollars and ride on Molly to take pictures. The keepers standing on the sidelines, armed with sharp objects suspected of being elephant hooks, forced the elephants to obey. In some video screenshots, Molly is injured and is likely to have been abused.
Jiaozuo Forest Zoo responded that the park is operated in partnership with qinyang Swan Lake Ecological Park (which previously introduced Molly from Kunming Zoo) and has introduced animals from there for performance since October 2018.
Molly performing or wearing anklets (photographed by netizens)
According to the screenshot of the netizen video, Molly's diet and living environment are also worrying
After the fermentation of public opinion in August last year, Kunming Zoo confirmed to the Yunnan CPPCC Daily that the baby elephant in the netizen video was Molly.
In September last year, the "Big Reference" column group of Henan Television Station's Minsheng Channel came to Jiaozuo Forest Zoo to understand the situation. The reporter found that the park could not show the reporting procedures for the elephant to enter and exit the park, and said that it was not aware of where the elephant went after leaving the park.
What is more suspicious is that according to the contract presented by the park, the animals that Jiaozuo Forest Zoo and Qinyang Swan Lake Ecological Park agreed to lease and perform did not include elephants.
In a video of a secret visit, the keepers in the park revealed to reporters that the park has declared all animal performances as "animal behavior displays", but in fact, it is to cover people's eyes and ears, in order to prevent the animal protection association from denouncing.
Signs and chains photographed by reporters at the Jiaozuo City Forest Zoo
Later, the reporter of "Big Reference" found Shi Baodong, a legal person of the Swan Lake Ecological Park in Qinyang City. Shi Baodong video-linked the keepers on the spot to show the reporter Molly's situation.
Three months later, Shi Baodong said in an interview with the media that the animal performances in the park were "normal behavior displays."
However, these actions did not calm the public opinion. Some netizens questioned: Why don't you let the reporter go to the scene to see the baby elephant? Where the hell is Molly? Can playing the harmonica also count as the natural behavior of animals?
Some netizens also found that at the same time as the reporter of the "Big Reference", Molly was suspected of having been transferred to Zhoukou for performance.
During the National Day in 2021, netizens who cared about Molly photographed it at Zhoukou Wildlife World.
Spoun's response in the interview
But Shi Baodong's contradictory rhetoric doesn't stop there.
In a report by Phoenix.com in April this year, Shi Baodong told reporters that Qinyang City and Raw Forest Animal Park, where Molly had been rumored to perform here, had stopped animal performances since April 2019.
However, on the zoo's official public account, a push released on March 21 this year wrote that the park provides dog shows, monkey shows and macaw shows, and you are welcome to buy tickets to see.
Notices in Qinyang City and Raw Forest Animal Park (Source: Phoenix Network)
More and more people have joined the action of "saving the little elephant Molly", and many voices have called on Kunming Zoo to take Molly back and let it return to the mother elephant.
Kunming Zoo responded that the ownership of the two Asian elephants has now been transferred to each other, so they have no right to interfere with the behavior of qinyang Swan Lake Ecological Park, let alone take back Molly.
Molly in the show
In order to understand the source of elephants in the Swan Lake Ecological Park in Qinyang City and the situation of foreign leasing, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the "Green Development Council") has applied for information disclosure from the Ministry of Forestry and Grassland, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, jiaozuo Forest Zoo, Qinyang Swan Lake Ecological Park, Kunming Zoo and other relevant units.
In February, with the exception of two zoos in Jiaozuo and Qinyang, which remained silent, several other places responded. The Forestry and Grassland Administration replied that it had decided to seek third-party advice, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said that the information was not available and could not be provided. The Kunming Zoo responded that it involved trade secrets and did not agree to disclose relevant information.
The vague attitude of several parties infuriated the public, and the cry for "save the little elephant Molly" only increased. Under the pressure of public opinion, on May 15, the Henan Forestry Bureau issued an announcement that Molly would be sent back to kunming zoo.
Molly's rescue was largely the result of public opinion. However, for the animals forced to perform, Molly returning home is a miracle of ephemeral, and most of them are difficult to obtain the same public attention as Molly, such as the Asian elephant Kamuri who performs with Molly at the Jiaozuo City Forest Zoo.
Animal performances that have been repeatedly banned
Throughout the ages, elephants have been one of the most commonly used animals for performances. Because elephants have more memory than ordinary animals, as well as gentle personalities.
As highly intelligent animals, elephants are not only good at learning, but also have stronger emotions. They live in groups, rely heavily on the connections between their peers, and maintain a tradition of respecting the elderly and loving the young. In addition, elephants are self-aware and aware of their own physical and mental activities.
These characteristics doom elephants to be more sensitive than ordinary animals and more painful when hurt.
In addition to Molly, a group of Asian elephants that migrated north last year also received attention.
Xiao Wuyuan, an elephant keeper at the Kunming Zoo, once said, "Asian elephants are very intelligent animals, and in their growth process, they need to be constantly domesticated and improved in order to get along better with humans." ”
In addition to feeding Asian elephants every day, he also arranges different "classes" according to the age stage of the baby elephants. For example, when the baby elephant is three years old, he will undergo medical behavior training and teach the baby elephant some simple movements to cooperate with the health examination.
In the process of animal domestication, there are two training methods, positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, to establish the animal's conditioned reflexes. The former is mainly encouraged, while the latter relies mainly on punishment. In most cases of abuse of performing animals, the existence of "negative reinforcement" training methods can be found.
Elephants performing a show
It is an indisputable fact that there is currently no clear law enforcing the prohibition of animal performance. Although as early as 2010, the state has put forward the management opinion of "eliminating animal performances", it still cannot hinder the pace of animal performances blooming everywhere in the country.
Even the Kunming Zoo, which now "rejects elephant performances," was once proud of elephant performances.
Molly's mother, Mo Po, was born in 1980 and is from Ruili, and entered the Kunming Zoo in 1997 and is proficient in various performances. In 2004, it and Molly's father, Zhongbo, gave birth to their first child, named "Kun kun", which means "treasure of Kunming".
Kun Kun, who is learning her talents
Kun Kun has been training in acting since the weaning period. There are trainers who teach it to play soccer, drums, salutes and other programs every day. When he was about two and a half years old, Kun Kun also had to learn high-difficulty stunts such as standing and handstanding. "At that time, the tourists who come to see Kun Kun's performance will be more blessed, and Kun Kun will be the real big star," the trainer said.
In October last year, two months after the rumors of "Molly's abuse" fermented, Molly's sister Kun Kun gave birth to her first child, and the father of the child was the male elephant ninth class that had been exchanged with Molly.
The second half of the mother's life is Mo Po
At the Kunming Zoo, the population of Asian elephants continues to grow. The new birth of an Asian elephant is like sowing seeds. The seedlings grow against suitable soil, blossom and bear fruit, and are then transplanted throughout the country.
However, for the "heroic mother" Mo Po, the second half of his life is inevitably a little lonely, because most of his children are no longer nearby.
Last October, Molly's sister Mo Jia was sent to the Chengdu Zoo.
Its first child, Mo Guo, is hard to find in official reports. Some netizens said that Mo Guo was born when Mo Po first arrived in Kunming, and was sent to nanning zoo, and since then there has been no news.
This information may have some credibility. According to the kunming zoo, since 1998, the park has cooperated with the Nanning Zoo to carry out the work of asian elephant blood exchange and breeding, which is the second year of Mo Polai.
After the second kunkun, Mo Po gave birth to Aobao, Mo Jia, and Mo Li, who were later sent to Shijiazhuang, Chengdu, and Qinyang, respectively.
In 2020, the 40-year-old Mo Po gave birth to the baby elephant "Xinwan". However, just two months ago, the baby elephant, who was less than 2 years old, died.
On March 24, 2021, I was able to officially meet visitors for the first time.
According to the Kunming Zoo, XinYi died of sudden acute myocarditis. However, some elephant fans believe that Xinyan has a suspected illness very early, but the garden does not pay attention to it. Until 8 hours before Xinyuan's death, the garden still let it be exhibited in the field.
Although Mo Po gave birth to six daughters, in the 26th year of coming to Kunming, only Kun Kun was left with this mother elephant.
Now Molly is back with it. Late on the night of May 16, Molly arrived safely at the Kunming Zoo and re-embarked on the land that had been separated for four years.
In October 2017, MoPo took a one-and-a-half-year-old Molly to the sun.
Resources:
China News Weekly: Little elephant Molly, what a home
Cover News: Yunnan Asian elephant "Molly" exchanged to Henan to be abused? Green Development Council's application for information disclosure was blocked
Author: Oolong
The pictures in the text are partly from the Oriental IC
The rest comes from the internet and the copyright belongs to the original author