"I thought that was the end of it, and I couldn't wait for any more news." Nalan (pseudonym), a volunteer who has been following the "Xiaohe" incident for more than a year, recently made a special trip from northeast China to Xiamen to observe the trial. Nalan told Silver Persimmon Finance that in addition to looking forward to the early settlement of the incident, she also hopes that the case can change the fate of other animals in the wilderness of Central Africa.
"Xiaohe" is a bay crocodile who lived in a private zoo in Xiamen - Xiamen Sino-African Shiye Safari Park Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sino-African Shiye"). Since 2022, due to the worrying health of the "small river", many animal activists have questioned the poor breeding environment in the park and the water quality and depth do not meet the feeding requirements. Environmental groups have launched public interest lawsuits in the hope of changing the living environment of the "small river". In October 2023, the Xiamen Intermediate People's Court accepted the case, giving volunteers a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, in less than 20 days, the park reported the news that "Xiaohe" had passed away due to illness.
After waiting for nearly half a year, on the morning of May 10, the environmental protection civil public interest lawsuit initiated by the Beijing Changping District Institute of Multiple Intelligences Environment against Shiye in Xiamen Intermediate People's Court opened in the first instance of the Xiamen Intermediate People's Court. Although it was a working day, nearly 30 people from all over the country came to the room, and the auditorium was almost full.
In the past few days, Silver Persimmon Finance has participated in the trial, visited the Central African world, sorted out the ins and outs of the incident, and found that behind the animal death incident, it was involved in the approval of land for the construction of private zoos, breeding and breeding licenses, and business operations. In the process, the news of the death of 20 Siberian tigers came out of the Fuyang Wildlife Park in Anhui Province, and according to the situation report issued by the local government in Fuyang on the morning of May 15, the forestry department has issued five rectification notices to the park since 2019.
"The central mission of the zoo should be to carry out comprehensive wildlife conservation and scientific research, as well as to educate the public about science and environmental protection. However, in reality, there are many problems in the development of the industry, and some overemphasize the commercial attributes and tourism service functions of zoos, deviating from the development direction of zoos for public welfare. According to Hu Chunmei, the person in charge of the rescue of performing animals, there are more private zoos in reality that they are building illegally and operating with "diseases", and the consequences will ultimately be on the animals.
Direct hit: 5 hours trial, 6 claims
From 9 a.m., the case lasted nearly five hours. The court was adjourned twice, one for 10 minutes, and Silver Persimmon Finance noticed that the people who were watching did not leave during the adjournment, and many people surrounded the plaintiff's attorney, hoping to continue to discuss the case.
Nalan also wanted to show her support, but she was a little speechless with excitement. At 9 o'clock the night before, she arrived in Xiamen by high-speed train, and for fear of missing the trial, she specially walked the route from the hotel to the court. On the day of the trial, she did not eat breakfast or lunch, and she trembled and cried several times during the trial. After paying attention to "Xiaohe" for more than a year, after experiencing worry, sadness, hope and disappointment, she finally waited for the case to be heard.
"It's a big improvement, and it's good to see people paying attention." Nalan said that for the sake of "Xiaohe", she and a group of volunteers who did not know each other "huddled" online to speak out for him, until October last year, when "Xiaohe" was notified of his death, and some friends chose to accept and remain silent, but she never came out and could not live a normal life for several months. When she heard the news of the trial, she was very relieved to see her former partner "pop up" again, hoping to use this case to end "Xiaohe" and give other animals a beginning.
During the trial, both the original defendant and the defendant only appointed their agents to appear in court. As the plaintiff, the non-profit organization filed six claims, including asking the court to order the Sino-African Shiye Zoo to immediately stop animal cruelty, prepare an environmental impact assessment report, and adopt animal husbandry behaviors that are consistent with animal habits. Silver Persimmon Finance noted that the evidence presented by the plaintiff mentioned that the three permits obtained by the Central African Shiye were the breeding license limited to 8 wild animals issued by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration in 2016, the 19 permits issued by the Fujian Provincial Forestry Department in June 2022, and the third aquaculture license for aquatic animals was obtained in October 2022.
"As an aquatic animal, the crocodile river came to the park in 2017, but the park only obtained a breeding license in 2022." During the trial, the plaintiff's lawyer, Zeng Xiangbin, a lawyer from Hubei Huanyuan Law Firm, pointed out that the Central African Shiye had been "breeding crocodiles without a license" for a long time. In this regard, the defendant argued that the company had obtained the relevant license when introducing "Xiaohe", but when the judge asked the other party to provide the license evidence, the other party said that it would confirm it with the parties again.
The defense also claimed at trial that the "small river" was artificially bred and did not belong to wild animals. In 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs adjusted and issued the List of Aquatic Species Approved as National Key Protected Wild Animals in the Appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Among them: Gulf crocodile (approved level 2, but only wild populations). Zeng Xiangbin believes that artificially bred bay crocodiles belong to the nature of wild animals and do not change because they are artificially bred, but there are indeed differences in "protection" between wild and captive-bred wild animals. "One of the core points of wildlife conservation is to maintain its wild population as much as possible, so there are very strict conditions for its sale, use, and breeding." Zeng Xiangbin mentioned that in reality, it is difficult to distinguish between artificial and wild animals without testing, "which also gives many zoos an opportunity."
The nature of the Central African world was also a key issue in the trial. The defendant's attorney asserted that the company was not a zoo and was only a place for the domestication and breeding of wild animals, but the plaintiff presented evidence such as public ticketing information and publicity for argument, arguing that although the company had not obtained land use approval and did not meet the stricter software and hardware requirements stipulated by law for the construction of the zoo, it "desperately denied that it was not a zoo, but was enjoying the actual profits of the zoo".
"If it's just a breeding place, it's just raising your own things behind closed doors, you can't open the door to sell tickets, you can't make money with them. Here's the big difference. Zeng Xiangbin mentioned in an interview with Silver Persimmon Finance.
However, in the end, the plaintiff did not indicate the specific amount of compensation in the claim, and also expressed its willingness to accept mediation. "The purpose of the prosecution is not to seek confrontation or bring down the zoo, but to take this opportunity to standardize the zoo so that other animals can live normally." Zeng Xiangbin told Silver Persimmon Finance that the two sides have not yet explored a constructive plan.
"Little River" should not have been such a fate. In December 2017, "Xiaohe" came to Shiye in Central Africa from Taiwan, and when it entered the park, it was "the world's largest captive-bred bay crocodile", and once became a star animal. When the Gulf crocodile is mentioned in popular science introductions, it is usually described as "a large crocodile with a fierce temperament". But less than a year after the world in Central Africa, there was news that the "small river" had been smashed by tourists with stones. At the end of 2022, some tourists found that their living environment was dirty and their health was worrying.
Mr. Ho, a reptile enthusiast who has visited Xiaohe many times in the Central African world, said that before being sent to the Central African world, the "Xiaohe" had weighed about 750 kilograms. In 2022, when some reptile lovers visited the "small river", they found that it was visibly thin to the naked eye, and the water body in which it lived was turbid, floating with garbage and debris, and the water was not as deep as the back of a crocodile. And "water deeper than back" is very important for crocodiles.
According to Mr. Ho, the "small river" is large and needs to live in deep water. "A big guy of several hundred pounds, if there is no buoyancy of water to help it support its weight, its internal organs will be compressed, and it is prone to internal organ failure." Mr. He believes that at least between 2019 and 2022, when he was concerned about the "small river", the water in the world's wild crocodile pond in Central Africa was relatively shallow, which could not help the "small river" support its weight, and the water quality was polluted, which was not conducive to the health of the crocodile.
After attracting a lot of attention, many animal protection people and caring netizens reported to the park and relevant departments. Later, according to the Rong Media Center of Xiang'an District, Xiamen City, on April 20, 2023, when the media went to visit the "small river" in Shiye in Central Africa with people from all parties, they saw that the crocodile breeding pond was equipped with awnings, plumbing heaters and other equipment to maintain a suitable water temperature. Ms. Zhou, the person in charge of the park, said in an interview with the media: "The park did have some flaws in management and breeding before. Under the supervision of netizens, we are gradually improving. In the future, I hope that netizens will continue to supervise us, and we will continue to work hard. ”
Half a year later, "Xiaohe" was notified of death.
Fact-finding detective: The number of animals is suspicious, and there is no tap water so far
The remote location of Shiye in Central Africa is located in Lion's Head Mountain, Dongyaowei Natural Village, Huangcuo Village, Cuo Town, Xiang'an District, Xiamen, more than 30 kilometers away from the city center. At around 12 o'clock on May 11, Silver Persimmon Finance arrived here and found that its first signboard was hanging in the bushes on the side of the road, which looked like a thin plastic skin from a distance and was somewhat damaged. Tickets aren't cheap, though. The ticket inspector said that the on-site purchase of tickets is 60 yuan, and the purchase of tickets through the online platform can be discounted by 10 yuan.
There is a small program code for an AI smart tour guide called "Easy Tour" at the gate, and the ticket inspector said that it can only be listened to for free for 5 minutes, after which it will cost money.
According to the introduction of the WeChat public account "Xiamen Zoo" with the certification subject of "Xiamen Zhongafrica Shiye Safari Park Co., Ltd.", it is the only large-scale wildlife park in Xiamen (the former Haicang Safari Park was relocated to Xiang'an), and has the national qualification for domestication, breeding and viewing of wild animals. There are more than 1,000 wild animals under national first- and second-class protection of more than 60 species in the park. At the same time, the zoo is also the only wildlife rescue center in southern Fujian, which is not only responsible for the protection, domestication, breeding and appreciation of wild animals in other places, but also responsible for the rescue of wild animals in Xiamen and surrounding areas, and receives applications from all walks of life to rescue a large number of national protected animals.
The park is built in the middle of the mountain, divided into the beast area and the herbivorous area, nearly 3 hours, the silver persimmon finance saw tigers, black bears, monkeys, pigs, elk, ostriches and other animals, rough estimates, the actual number of animals and its propaganda is not small. In addition, only four families came to play that day, and the only staff members seen in the park were one ticket seller, two keepers and two commissary staff. When asking for directions, a male staff member was slightly wary and asked, "Who is it?" Where are you going? After Silver Persimmon Finance showed that he was a tourist, he pointed casually, "You can go any way, all of them can be passed."
Silver Persimmon Finance noticed that the peacocks in the park are stocked in the mode, and they can be seen from the gate to all areas of the park. Outside the ring-tailed lemur cage, some parents and their children directly opened the cage and had almost zero contact with the animals. Some of the "Attention" signs are buried in the haystack and are hard to make out if you don't pick them up and look closely. In the middle of the park, near the top of the mountain, there is a large vacant site, which is the site where the "Xiaohe" once lived as rumored on the Internet, and the water in the pond is now dry, and no other animals live there. One tourist said there were four crocodiles in the park before. A keeper feeds a tortoise in a tortoise pen not far away while livestreaming. When asked about crocodiles, the staff member said, "There are no crocodiles, we are all rescued" and refused to say more; Another staff member also looked uncomfortable, "No crocodiles, not so many." I do not know. ”
Within half an hour of going deep into the beast area, you can see that the garbage cans in the park are replaced by earthen tanks and plastic baskets, which are stuffed but no one has cleaned them, and there are cigarette butts scattered on the ground. A dirt road leads to a row of doorless and roofless toilets, which have not been cleaned, and there are many stone graves in the bushes and on the roadside, even at noon on a sunny May day, the scene is a little desolate.
"It was like this when I came, and I didn't dare to go over there, and I didn't ask." A staff member who has been working here for more than a year also wondered: "If you want to open a zoo, you should ask that the grave be moved." However, the people in the village also value feng shui, and some people are reluctant to move. ”
The staff member also revealed that no water pipes have been laid in the park so far. Due to the lack of self-dug well water, more water needs to be purchased through a truck, 300 yuan per car, three to five trucks at a time, loaded into a centralized water tank on the mountain, and then transported through various pipelines. Silver Persimmon Finance saw that there were tourists who had nowhere to wash their hands after going to the toilet that day, and the free-range peacocks often stayed at the edge of a pool of oily green water, and in the pen where the elk were kept in captivity, the pool water was as muddy as muddy water. Previously, some netizens posted videos showing that elk sometimes drink this dirty water.
"When we drink water, we bring mineral water ourselves." The staff member said that the water bought in the park can be used to wash his hands, but he is worried that it is not clean and does not want to use his food and drink. "We don't know if it's secondary water. Animals can't help it. ”
Because the boss needs to sign before each water purchase, sometimes employees do not pay attention to check the water tank, and the water supply in the park will be stopped. The staff member also remembers that there was a time when the rain washed away the road and the water truck could not pass, and the water was also stopped for a while, and the water was used "completely depending on the weather". He heard that the park had wanted to install running water, but for some reason it didn't work.
"It's hard to be a boss." He sighed inexplicably. After being questioned by Silver Persimmon Finance, he said that he did not know. And when asked about crocodiles, he stressed that "it's just small talk, I don't know anything".
Investigation: Has been penalized, has been in business
According to the public business information of the enterprise, China Africa Shiye was established in July 2015 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan and is a private enterprise. Its business scope includes general projects such as zoo management services and wildlife protection, as well as licensed projects such as artificial breeding of terrestrial wild animals under national key protection and artificial breeding of aquatic wild animals under national key protection. According to the 2016 annual report released by the Xiamen Xiang'an District Scenic Tourism Management Center, it is mentioned in the "business activities - do a good job in the construction and tracking services of key projects" to do a good job in the tracking service of the China-Africa Shiye Ecological Park project.
After in-depth combing, it was found that there had been repeated problems in the operation of the Central African World. Its predecessor, Colorful Valley Industrial Co., Ltd. Haicang Safari Park (hereinafter referred to as "Haicang Safari Park"), was established in 2000, covering an area of 180,000 square meters. According to a land lease contract dispute on the website of the judgment document, in 2014, Haicang Wildlife Park was sued by the Management Committee of Xiamen Haicang Taiwanese Investment Zone for arrears of land rent for 14 years. In the end, Haicang Wildlife Park was sentenced to return the leased land and pay more than 17 million yuan in rent and late fees. Since 2016, Haicang Wildlife Park has been relocated to Xiang'an District as a construction project for investment promotion, and has been renamed Zhongafrica Shiye. In 2021 and 2022, Zhongafrica Shiye also became the person subject to execution twice, with a total amount of more than 270,000 yuan.
Hu Chunmei told Silver Persimmon Finance that as early as June 2015, in the "Haicang Era", volunteers of the Rescue Show Animals Project found that there were tigers taking photos and tourists riding tortoises in the Haicang Wildlife Park.
"We then received information that WAZA had cancelled its membership and asked Haicang Wildlife Park to stop all animal shows on April 6, 2016. Later, Haicang Wildlife Park was relocated. Hu Chunmei said that in 2020, she also went to the relocated Central African world to check the situation, and found that the living space of the animals there is cramped, the environment is monotonous, and the living conditions are still poor.
Although there is no public data on the park's business status, judging from the content posted on its official account, Central Africa Shiye once pinned its hopes on "Xiaohe" to increase its popularity. Since the end of 2016, its official account "Xiamen Zoo" has posted WeChat messages related to Sanjo and "Xiaohe", including intimate contact with them and loving adoption. In the "Love Adoption" released in April 2020, the annual title fee of the "Xiaohe" enterprise adoption exhibition area was marked at 80,000 yuan, and the exclusive benefits during the period included equivalent experience coupons, exhibition area naming, adoption signs and billboards. It is stated in the adoption information that the adoption fee and the naming fee will be used for the feed, disease prevention, scientific research, science popularization, cage maintenance and renovation of the adopted animals. Silver Persimmon Finance did not inquire about the adoption of "Xiaohe".
"The operation and maintenance of a zoo requires a long period of investment. Some zoos overemphasize commercial attributes and tourism service functions, deviating from the development direction of zoos' public welfare. Hu Chunmei told Silver Persimmon Finance that the zoo should play more role in analyzing species and nature conservation for tourists, rather than just letting tourists pursue superficial and intuitive stimulation, and simply linking the zoo with feeding animals and other behaviors that are not conducive to animal protection, forming a vicious circle.
It is worth mentioning that the identity of the "zoo" of the Central African world is sometimes recognized and sometimes denied. According to the online public documents of the judgment documents, at the beginning of 2019, Zhongafrica Shiye and its actual controller Zhou Yuwei were prosecuted by the People's Procuratorate of Tong'an District, Xiamen City, for violating land management regulations, illegally occupying 13.3 acres of forest land, changing the use of occupied forest land, and causing a large amount of forest land, resulting in a large amount of forest land, and finally the company was sentenced to a fine of 200,000 yuan, and Zhou Yuwei was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 yuan. Looking specifically at the judgment, the domestication of animals and the operation of zoo projects without the approval of the competent forestry authorities are not recognized by the court.
In July 2019, the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning replied to the petition, stating that it had been found to be true that China Africa Shiye had built a house on July 25 that year on the deforestation and hardening ground of Shitou Mountain in Huangcuo Village, Neicuo Town. The Tong'an District People's Court has imposed a criminal judgment and fine on the illegal construction in Shiye, and the District Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau has completely demolished the illegal construction.
Also in November 2019, the "Administrative Penalty Decision" released by the Xiamen Xiang'an Ecological Environment Bureau showed that China Africa Shiye was fined 24,000 yuan for failing to go through the environmental impact assessment and approval.
"This is because the other party (before) wanted to build a zoo, and we required it to go through an environmental impact assessment before building it, according to the regulations." On May 13, a staff member of the Xiang'an Ecological Environment Bureau replied to Silver Persimmon Finance, "Now that they have stopped construction, they say that they are animal breeding places, so they do not need an environmental impact assessment." ”
Question: Zoo Limited is not a zoo?
In the face of the investigation and a series of concerns and reports caused by the death of "Xiaohe", the Central African Shiye, which reads "Safari" at the gate, gradually does not recognize itself as a zoo. Nalan said that he had received a reply from the relevant department, "The staff said that the full name of Central Africa Shiye is Central Africa Shiye Safari Park Co., Ltd., but it has a zoo in its name, but it is not a zoo." ”
After paying attention to the situation of "Xiaohe", the volunteers called the park and relevant departments many times, but basically no one answered the phone from the park, and a few times answered the phone, as long as the volunteers mentioned "Xiaohe", the other party either hung up the phone, or replied "I don't know", asking the volunteers to follow the official account. Probably starting from 2023, the relevant departments will unify their voices and say that the world in Central Africa is a "wild animal domestication site". She believes that this is "selling dog meat on the head of a sheep" to avoid scrutiny.
Even if the Central African world is a domestication site, there is a suspicion of non-compliance. A reply received by Nalan this year from the relevant departments of Xiang'an District said: "For the domestication sites of wild animals of the Chinese African company, the city and district levels are currently studying the approval of land for the domestication site project." “
Silver Persimmon Finance inquired that in the "Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspectors' Mass Petition Report Transfer and Disclosure of Supervision and Reform" (the 22nd batch) announced in 2023, in response to the petitioner's proposal that "Central Africa Shiye has actually been operating in the name of a zoo, not only a domestication place", after review, "the company used some of the facilities in the domestication site for ticketing, retail, parking vehicles and other business purposes without authorization, which did not comply with the regulations on the management of wild animal domestication sites". To this end, the Xiang'an District Government has also set up a special team for ticketing investigation and processing, and the reply shows that two platforms have stopped selling tickets. However, during the on-site visit of Silver Persimmon Finance, the first thing to do when entering the park was to buy tickets. Zeng Xiangbin once mentioned that whether it is open to the public and whether it sells tickets is the biggest difference between a zoo and an animal breeding site.
"If it's an animal breeding place, it's generally not open to the public." Hu Chunmei also told Silver Persimmon Finance that entering the breeding place needs to meet relatively strict animal epidemic prevention requirements, such as clothing disinfection, people need to enter the ultraviolet disinfection room for 10 minutes, etc.
Silver Persimmon Finance also noted that even wild animal domestication and breeding sites need to be licensed. According to the provisions, the artificial breeding of wild animals shall be conducive to the conservation of species and scientific research, and shall ensure that wild animals have the necessary space for activities, habitat, reproduction, health and health conditions according to their habits, have places, facilities, and technologies appropriate to their breeding purposes, types, and development scales, and meet relevant technical standards and epidemic prevention requirements, and must not abuse wild animals.
"Pets should understand their living habits, for the national first-class and second-class protected animals, before the issuance of a license should be to the scene to investigate and verify, the corresponding software and hardware, places and technology, whether they meet the requirements of species breeding, if not suitable, will not raise, a few days may be raised to death." Zeng Xiangbin mentioned that the forestry and grassland department should be responsible for the protection of wild animals, and the level should be divided according to the level of animals.
In June 2018, the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Parks and Gardens issued a list of administrative law enforcement matters, which mentioned that the rights and responsibilities were the issuance of domestication and breeding licenses for terrestrial wild animals, and the issuance of domestication and breeding licenses for terrestrial wild animals under provincial key protection, of which five animals such as bay crocodiles were entrusted to the Fujian Provincial Forestry Department. On the morning of May 14, Silver Persimmon Finance called the Fujian Provincial Forestry Bureau for consultation, and the caller said that if you need to apply for the corresponding permit, you should first go through the process online, and then the department will go to the site to verify whether it meets the breeding conditions. When it was learned that the aquatic animal Bay crocodile was involved, the other party said that it should be managed by the Oceans and Fisheries Bureau. Silver Persimmon Finance then called the Fujian Provincial Oceanic and Fishery Bureau, and it kept showing that it was on the phone.
However, in July last year, the Fujian Provincial Bureau of Oceans and Fisheries said in response to complaints from netizens about Xiaohe, that the fishery authorities of local people's governments at or above the county level are in charge of the protection of aquatic wildlife within their administrative areas. After receiving the letter, the bureau immediately contacted the local county-level fishery administrative department, Xiamen Xiang'an District Agriculture and Rural Bureau, and learned about the situation, and the specific situation can be directly contacted Xiang'an District Agriculture and Rural Bureau.
Silver Persimmon Finance also called the Xiang'an District Agriculture and Rural Bureau, and one person who answered the call said that "Xiaohe's matter is over and they are all dead", while another said "I don't know" and provided another "wildlife department" phone number. Among the more than 10 calls made by Silver Persimmon Finance, including the Municipal Garden Bureau, the Capital Planning Bureau, the Agriculture and Rural Bureau, etc., the phones were answered with a good attitude, but they failed to give an accurate answer to which department issued the domestication and breeding license for the bay crocodile.
"To be. Whether it's from the natural planning of land construction, to the issuance of breeding permits, or the actual operation of the zoo. You can't just leave yourself out. Zeng Xiangbin hopes that in specific law enforcement, the relevant departments can keep up with the requirements of the times for wildlife protection.
Follow-up: Why are they always private zoos?
In fact, a similar phenomenon is not limited to the Central African world. Recently, the unnatural death of a number of precious wild animals, including 20 Siberian tigers, in Anhui Fuyang Wildlife Park, has attracted attention. According to reports, the construction of the zoo was suspended for nearly two years due to land use problems during the construction of the zoo, and then the Siberian tiger was illegally exhibited and artificially bred without obtaining an artificial breeding permit. Silver Persimmon Finance found that this is a private zoo, operated by Anhui Colorful Wildlife Park Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Colorful Company). Since 2020, Qicai Company has been involved in a number of case disputes, and has been listed as a dishonest person subject to execution 4 times, and its legal representative Pan Zhichao has been restricted from high consumption 6 times in the past year.
According to media reports, in September 2018, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) decided not to grant permission to Qicai on the grounds that it "did not have the appropriate premises and facilities for breeding Siberian tigers, Asian elephants and Bengal tigers". However, the zoo is still open for ticket sales and operation.
In addition to the prior approval procedures, operation is a dead cycle that many private zoos fall into. Some industry insiders said that most private zoos will not be able to recover their costs in 5 or even 10 years, and losses can be said to be the norm in this industry. In addition to the large capital investment, the vicious competition of private zoos is also extremely serious due to blind construction.
"The cost of raising animals is very high, for example, a Siberian tiger has to eat 20~30 catties of meat every day; Secondly, the cost of labor costs is also very high, there are more than 200 employees in the scenic spot, and the annual expenditure of labor costs alone is about 10 million yuan. Previously, the person in charge of Luanchuan Zhuhai Safari Park in Luoyang, Henan Province, had calculated an account in an interview with the media, saying that "I have calculated many times in my heart, which is very helpless and realistic."
Around 2003, a survey report on wildlife parks showed that there was a surplus of wildlife parks in many regions of China, and the number of wildlife parks in the Yangtze River Delta, Wuhan, Beijing and other regions had exceeded three, and there were hundreds of them in the country. In 2023, Hu Chunmei made a preliminary statistics on zoos across the country based on the presence of wild animals and opening to the outside world: there are more than 800 zoos in the mainland, of which nearly 400 are privately owned. Hu Chunmei told Silver Persimmon Finance that some zoo operators are difficult to identify, such as state-owned entities providing venues, animal breeding and sources are private, etc., but overall, the number of private zoos is increasing, "it can be said that it is booming".
On the one hand, zoos are "crying poor", and on the other hand, the number of zoos is increasing year by year, why is this? In Hu Chunmei's view, the increase in the number of zoos can in turn show that the industry is still developing. She mentioned that many zoo disputes are actually disputes between the management in order to get more profits, and animals are only used as part of the business. She is not opposed to the zoo making money, but hopes that in the process, it will not just be the owner's pockets bulging, but the zoo will be reduced to a pure money-making tool.
In more reports, zoos are soliciting visitors in various "hot" ways. In April this year, Yancheng Wildlife World in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province issued a "heavy reward order" of "100,000 yuan to recruit people to live with tigers". In September last year, Shanghai Wild Animal Park launched the "Crossing the Beast Zone" experience activity, in which visitors take a special off-road vehicle through the wildlife activity area such as brown bears, cheetahs, and wolves.
Some people in the industry have also proposed that the specific operation of private zoos can raise the threshold for approval, eliminate the excessive construction and vicious competition of zoos, and reasonably planned large-scale private zoos are not only easy to survive, but also more conducive to ensuring animal welfare. At the government level, zoos that undertake the conservation function of endangered wildlife can be provided with corresponding funding, and corresponding implementation measures and rules can be established.
"A single safari park is no longer enough to support operations." The relevant person in charge of Wulongshan Safari Park in Xinxiang, Henan Province once told the media that from a single zoo to a tourist area and an ecological park, it is a way for private zoos to seek transformation.
In 2013, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the "National Zoo Development Outline", proposing that the overall goal of China's zoo development in 10 years is to realize the transformation from traditional zoos to modern zoos. It also mentions the need to establish a scientific and rigorous zoo entry and exit review system. "On the one hand, it is necessary to establish a database of experts in the construction and management of zoos, and improve expert management. On the other hand, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive evaluation and demonstration of existing zoos on the basis of registration, timely report and expose zoos that do not meet the legal conditions and access standards, and comprehensively clean up unqualified zoos in the industry in the next ten years. ”
Hu Chunmei believes that for those zoos that are indeed difficult to operate, the "exit system" proposed ten years ago has a certain degree of advancement, as long as the follow-up shelter is well matched, it is a better choice for both zoos and animals. It's a pity that it hasn't been implemented until now, and "it's the animals that suffer."