Wang Fang x surging asked
In the past two years, whether in wilderness or in cities, wild animals have increasingly entered the human field of vision: in June 2021, the Siberian tiger "Wandashan No. 1" traveled to the three eastern provinces in the north, and 12 Asian elephants in the south went north to hike Yunnan; Following the "settlement" of the Shanghai community, in July 2022, a number of wild raccoons appeared in the Wuhan community...
When the range of human activities and the living environment of wild animals continue to fold, how should we live in harmony with them? The surging Q&B invited Wang Fang, doctoral supervisor of the School of Life Sciences of Fudan University, to talk about the conflict and coexistence of humans and wild animals.
Wild Animals Coming into Town
@ Piglet Hey Hey: A few days ago to go to the Shanghai Zoo to play, on the road where tourists walked encountered two small animals running freely, please ask this phenomenon more?
Wang Fang: The Shanghai Zoo has contiguous forests and green spaces, as well as healthy water bodies, and there are actually quite a lot of wild animals in it. For example, there were more than 50 raccoons at the most, all of which were native to wild raccoons. Such a phenomenon is common in the large green areas of Shanghai Zoo, Shanghai Botanical Garden, Chenshan Botanical Garden, Gongqing Forest Park, and Binjiang Forest Park.
@ Wolf in wolf Wolf Wolf: Will the wild animals entering the city become more and more dependent on human society?
Wang Fang: Highly dependent. For example, squirrels in New York's Central Park, eating a lot of human food also leads to high blood lipids; Both raccoons in Washington and raccoons in Japan have led to obesity and skin diseases due to their over-reliance on human food; Deer in Nara eat too much human food can also cause health problems and aggression. They are increasing in number in cities and have easy access to food, but they also cause a range of problems because of their dependence on humans.
@Wisdom Fish 888: Are animals entering the city because their habitat is destroyed?
Wang Fang: Not necessarily. Many animals come into town voluntarily. Animal needs are primarily food, water, breeding grounds, and hiding places, and for a few urban species, cities not only provide these basic needs, but even have easier access to food than in the wild. These animals entering the city are more of an active adaptation and choice for the urban environment, such as the red fox in the United Kingdom, the raccoon in the Americas, the wild boar in China and Germany, and the raccoon in Shanghai and Wuhan.
"Shanghai Forestry" WeChat public account picture
@MagicWaltz: Why did large-scale wild animals such as Siberian tigers and elephants suddenly enter the city a few years ago? Have there been these cases in the past?
Wang Fang: It can be said that the Siberian tiger, the Siberian tiger that happened last year was really surprising, but if you look at our neighbor Russia, you will find that in fact, there are hundreds of human-tiger conflicts (including the lightest witnesses and the highest level of injuries) every year, and the number of human and big cat conflicts in India is huge.
From this comparison, the overall conflict between mainlanders and large carnivores is very small, but it is indeed possible to increase, I think there are several main reasons for it as a whole: 1. Most of the natural habitats of wild animals are occupied; 2. The remaining natural habitats are blocked by roads, farmland, and settlements; 3. Wild animals need to migrate, spread, and gradually adapt to human activities. So there is more and more news like this.
A guide to human-animal coexistence
@Er eucalyptus: In daily life, mosquitoes and cockroaches are two creatures that kill endlessly and are annoying, is it necessary for humans to coexist with these two creatures? How do you deal with their nuisance?
Wang Fang: In fact, urban environments where mosquitoes and flies breed, cockroaches are infested, or insect outbreaks such as inchworms are often the places with the worst biodiversity and significant problems in urban ecosystems. Imagine if, in a healthy urban ecosystem with well-planned green spaces and water bodies, bats, toads, storks, praying mantises, house swallows, dragonflies and waterflies... There will be a large number of organisms as predators, controlling pests, and the ecosystem will be healthier as a result. Therefore, in fact, maintaining a healthy ecosystem can also reduce the nuisance of pests.
@ Piglet Hey: During the epidemic period, there was a weasel in the community, waiting for neighbors to feed every day, several families also quarreled about it, some think that disturbing people should not be fed, some say to care for small animals, what do you think? What is the right attitude?
Wang Fang: Wild animals should not be fed under any circumstances. Human food is high in sugar, salt, fat, and calorie, and there is an unnecessary risk of bacteria and viruses in the whole process, and it will induce animals to change behavior and form dependence on humans, but it will increase the possibility of human-animal conflict and induce the formation of aggressive behavior.
@Ah right right dui: Can you touch wild animals?
Wang Fang: Don't touch it. Aggression, foci, human odor bacteria and infectious diseases, unnecessary tension or dependence... Under all kinds of threats, do not actively touch wild animals.
@Wisdom Fish 888: How should I treat wild animals entering the city? What if I hurt someone?
Wang Fang: First of all, we still need to consider whether we need to quickly remove the injured individual. Each case requires a specific analysis, such as figuring out the cause of the conflict, whether it is accidental or inevitable, and whether it is avoidable and whether more rapid action is needed. The treatment after the injury will also vary from species to species, for example, the Asian elephants around the Banna crop field are difficult to deal with directly, more of an early warning; But if a wild boar in Hangzhou or Nanjing hurts someone, it is more likely to remove the wild boar that caused the accident, which is still a complexity of species and ecosystems.
@ surging netizen UvYbqu: How are the animals living during the epidemic, I heard that many stray cats and dogs are hungry or even starving to death?
Wang Fang: Some animals will benefit from less human activity, such as the crested eagle in Shanghai because the park is more free to breed because there are no tourists, and the Binjiang Forest Park has more fireflies because of less pollution during the lockdown. But there are also animals that rely on humans, such as stray cats and dogs or raccoons, which will be more difficult during the epidemic.
City or Wilderness?
@ To the moon to run to me: some wild animals are also protected by the state, for these protected animals, is it better to keep them in captivity, or is it better to let them live freely?
Wang Fang: It is always better to protect the natural habitat of wild animals. That is, unless the species cannot be maintained normally, the population declines sharply, and the habitat is difficult to maintain, in situ conservation should be given priority in the wild.
@Username Household: Is it possible for wild animals that move around cities to become carriers of dangerous pathogens and spread them to humans? If so, how should the public health risks posed by urban wildlife be managed?
Wang Fang: It is not impossible, so continuous epidemic source disease surveillance is very important. In fact, there are people in various places engaged in the quarantine of wild animals, for example, in Shanghai, we have just taken samples of wild animals with government workers and found that there is no risk of rabies and so on. Other staff have been sampling at these bird migration sites in Chongming for a long time to rule out the risk of avian influenza. These works are all quietly promoted behind the scenes for a long time.
@Aquarius small bottle: Will animals live better in the city than in the wild? Otherwise, all creatures have the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm, and if they have a bad life, they will not stay in the city, right?
Wang Fang: First of all, not all animals can live in urban ecosystems, and only those species with a wide range of diets (can eat anything), a diverse habitat (can live anywhere), and a large nerve that is not easy to stress (can tolerate anything) can live in cities. Therefore, although some species may reach tens or even hundreds of times the density of the wild in the city, there is still a relatively small list of species, such as red foxes, gray squirrels, raccoons, skunks, wild boars, raccoons, etc., and the list is not long. For species with high environmental requirements and sensitivity, it is still difficult to live in cities.
Editor-in-Charge: Huang Yazhu
Proofreader: Ding Xiao