Do You Go to the Zoo

Interviewing Hua Shi,the writer of A Trip to the Zoo Is Serious Business

With tickets at a mere 40 yuan,a price that hasn’t gone up in 11 years,and with no animal shows and an emphasis on animal welfare,Nanjing’s Hongshan Forest Zoo is China’s one and only completely self-sufficient public zoo—which just so happens to be one of the top animal parks in the country.But its managerial and administrative success story notwithstanding,the COVID-19 crisis has left it in tatters,saddled with more than 30 million yuan in debt.The zoo has found itself amidst something of an existential crisis.Hence,the topic of how a modern zoo makes a living caused a big stir in the country.

Pop-science author Hua Shi toured 41 cities visiting 56 zoos over the space of four months,live broadcasting and putting together ideas for a book published under the name,A Trip to the Zoo Is Serious Business,which was selected for the Capital Library of China’s recommended reads list for the year 2020,as well as China’s top books of the month list.

Wuhan native Hua Shi has a microblog on Sina Weibo with 4.25 million fans and is the netizen director of the Wuhan Zoo.In mid-January,2021,I had an exclusive interview with Hua Shi and gained a lot of insights on his zoo visits.

The zoo appears in many pupils’ school essays and many parents’ “special playtime”activities.Hua Shi himself admitted thatA Trip to the Zoo Is Serious Businesswas written out of a sense of “fun.” Penning the book was the fulfillment of a lifelong wish,but there is also a bit of an ulterior motive that came into play—to attract public attention to the zoos,as well as to help facilitate the future development of the zoo industry.

門票40 元、11年不漲價，拒絕動物表演，重視動物福利，南京紅山動物園是國內唯一一家自收自支的公立動物園，也是中國國內最好的動物園之一。然而，這家動物園，去年因疫情影響，虧損3000多萬元。紅山陷入生存困境，一時間，現代社會的動物園應該是怎樣一種存在的話題，引發社會關注。

科普作家花蝕花4 個月時間，跑了41 個城市，逛了56 家動物園，邊直播逛動物園邊整理寫作，出版了《逛動物園是件正經事》這本書，入選首都圖書館2020年最強書單，入選中國好書月榜。

花蝕是武漢人，微博擁有425萬粉絲，是武漢動物園的網民園長。2021年1月中旬，記者采訪了花蝕，聽他講如何逛動物園。

逛動物園，出現在大多數小朋友的作文里，以及家長的“遛娃”日程表里。花蝕承認，《逛動物園是件正經事》是一本“玩”出來的書。他寫這本書，一方面是完成夙愿，另一方面是想引發大家關注動物園，幫助動物園這個行業往前發展。

花蝕說，普通人借助網絡或影片可以迅速“瀏覽”野生動物，但體驗不豐富，比如沒有氣味。很多哺乳動物都會用氣味標記領地、傳遞信息。狗的肛門腺分泌的臭味，讓人難以忍受；熊貍散發出的氣味，有人形容是奶油爆米花的味道。這一點他在看電視時早知道了，但直到他在云南野生動物園才真的聞到這樣的氣味，實在是太神奇了，如果不是親密接觸熊貍，是不可能感受到的。

上海動物園的科普小推車里有很多動物的標本，可以看，更可以摸。實物觸摸帶來的感受，遠超觀看。獵豹脖頸上的鬃毛有多軟？金絲猴、黑白疣猴這兩種長毛猴誰的毛更軟？摸一下就知道了。

很多人抵制動物園，認為動物園禁錮了動物的自由，非常殘忍。但現代動物園承擔了三個任務：公眾自然教育、珍稀野生動物繁育、科學研究，這三個任務直接關系到人對動物界的了解和人與動物的和諧相處。

花蝕認為，逛動物園，最重要一點，是觀察動物的自然行為。

長臂猿是哺乳動物當中，除了人類以外唯一一類會唱和聲的動物。長的悠揚的主旋律，是雄性長臂猿的聲音；聽起來像鳥叫、有一種轉動感覺的聲音是雌性長臂猿，這是它們給雄性長臂猿配的和聲。獐的獠牙會動，吃東西的時候，獠牙會倒下來，“嗖”地立起來，就是要戰斗。考拉常見的姿態是找個樹杈，一坐一天。考拉臀部的毛比背部要厚得多，摸起來像地毯；背毛的質感更加柔軟細密，是用來遮風擋雨的……

The internet and videos may be good ways to quickly “browse”the zoo,but it is imperfect,for example,it lacks the scents of the real zoo experience,remarked Hua Shi.Many mammals use scent to mark their territory and send signals.The smell of the secretions from a dog’s anal glands is nearly unbearable for humans.The scent emitted by the binturong has been described as something akin to buttery popcorn.These are things he had learned about the animals from the television long ago,but it was not until actually smelling these scents at the Yunnan Safari Park for real that he learned how amazing it is.It is something that simply cannot be experienced until coming into contact with an actual binturong.

The trolleys at the Shanghai Zoo contain a multitude of animal specimens that you can see as well as touch.The sensation brought about by physical touch far surpasses that of mere sight.How soft are the bristles on the nape of a cheetah’s neck? And whose fur is softer than that of two longhaired primates,namely,the golden snub-nosed monkey and the black-and-white colobus.You only know when you actually touch them.

Many out there look down on the zoo,thinking that the animals have little freedom in cages,which is downright cruel.But modern zoos now assume three responsibilities:nature education to the public,the breeding of rare animals,and scientific research.These three things directly relate to man’s understanding of the animal kingdom and mankind’s peaceful co-existence with animals.

Hua Shi believes that the most important thing about going to the zoo is observing the natural behavior of animals.

The gibbon is the only mammal in the world that can sing harmony,other than man of course.A sort of larghetto cadenza is the male gibbon’s mellifluous melody.Hearing it would make one mistake it for the warble of birds.A veritable trilled ostinato is the female gibbon’s harmony that forms a symphony when combined with the male’s song.A roebucks’ tusks move when it eats and stand erect with a “swish”when it fights.Sitting perched in the crotch of two tree branches is the oft-seen pose of the koala,where it can stay all day long.The fur on the koala’s loins is thicker than that on its back,almost feeling like carpet to the touch.The texture of the fur on its back is softer and finer,and is used to shield it from wind and rain.

Animals exhibit a wide range of natural behaviors,for example,mating,hunting,and fighting,along with a plethora of fascinating activities.Letting them exhibit their natural behavior and returning them to as close to their natural habitat as possible is what can help the public to visually experience something they cannot without being there on-site.And in the process,they can experience nature itself,with the opportunity to witness and understand the activities of animals first hand.This is something much more than just enjoying animals for their“cuteness,” and the experience is like being treated to pure joy.

Hua Shi cautions everyone not to naively “rescue” an animal’s young that is found in the wild,as they may have just come out to play.The mother will probably come looking to bring them back home soon,and if they are taken away by the hand of man,then the paws of an animal cub and its beloved parents will be forever separated.

The plaques of the snow leopard’s cage in Xining Wildlife Park states the origin,name,age,personality,preferences,and other information of each snow leopard so that the visitors feel they are meeting new friends,rather than “finally seeing live wild animals in the flesh.” Getting to know the animals on a personal level like this makes the trip to the animal park less about just seeing animals up close,and more about spiritually communing with mother nature and all her creations.(Translation:Chase Coulson)

動物會展示許多自然行為，例如求偶、覓食、沖突以及許多有趣的舉動。展示動物的自然行為，以及盡可能還原動物原生的自然生態環境，才能讓公眾直觀地感受到影像無法具備的現場感，從而感受大自然。能親眼看到動物的自然行為并能讀懂，就不會只是覺得“萌”，還能享受非常純粹的快樂。

花蝕提示大家，野外看到落單的動物幼崽，不要貿然“救助”，它們可能只是溜出來玩一玩，一會兒就被媽媽找回家了，人類帶走它們，它們可能就永遠和家人失散了。

西寧野生動物園的雪豹場館的科普牌，上面寫清了每一只雪豹的來歷、名字、年齡、性格、喜好等信息，訪客當下的感受就如認識新朋友，而不是“終于看到活的了”。從個體的角度去接觸和了解動物，這樣一場動物園之旅便不僅僅是一次近距離觀察動物的機會，更是一次與大自然母親及其造物的深入交流。