As a professional breeder, Huang Baoying, a girl born in the 1980s, has taken care of dozens of Siberian tigers in the past three years, and is the first "nanny" of many young tigers after they were born. On her TikTok, there are both cute moments of Siberian tiger cubs jumping for the first time, and the hard-core knowledge of breeders to artificially stimulate the baby tiger's defecation. More than 17 million netizens liked this special "parenting diary".
In addition to Huang Baoying, the patrol officers who cleaned hunting traps in the wild and "escorted" the Siberian tigers, and popular science creators who introduced Siberian tiger knowledge in comics, videos and other forms... With the continuous efforts of these professionals, Siberian tigers have begun to attract more and more attention. On Douyin alone, the number of views of Siberian Tiger related topics exceeded 2.3 billion. The newly launched Siberian Tiger Protection Area attracted nearly 20 million netizens to participate in the protection in 10 days.
"Tiger Mom" became popular short video platform
In 2019, by chance, Huang Baoying was recommended to work in a zoo in Dezhou, Shandong. She likes cats and has focused on the job of raising tigers from the beginning. However, after the induction training, the park wanted to assign her to the herbivorous team, "because raising beasts has high physical strength requirements, there are few female breeders." But Huang Baoying was unwilling to give up. She insisted on lifting dumbbells and jumping ropes every day, trying to prove that she could also carry dozens of kilograms of food for tigers.
Hard work pays off. With his passion for cats and professional veterinary background, Huang Baoying finally successfully became a Siberian tiger breeder. In addition to feeding food, checking animals, and controlling safety, she also undertakes the childbirth of new Siberian tigers in the park. She is a professional nurse for many little tigers, and the TikTok name "Tiger Mom" also came from this.
It is not easy to be a "tiger mom". Huang Baoying remembers that after the twins Caesar and Hera were born, the tiger mother who had no fertility experience began to "strike". Whenever a tiger baby tries to suck breasts, the tiger mother will avoid it, not to mention licking the young tiger's urinary system to stimulate the little guy to defecate. "Although the newly born little tiger can eat, the excretion function has not yet been fully developed and cannot defecate independently. The tiger mother needs to constantly lick the anus for stimulation."
Worried that the two young tigers would suffer from problems if they only drink milk and do not defecate. Huang Baoying could only use a sanitary tampon dipped in warm water to "massage" the young tigers every day to help them get rid of constipation. During the more than five months of artificial child care, Huang Baoying was with the twins. In special circumstances, there are also 24 or even 36 hours of continuous duty. When you are sleepy and tired, you will sleep next to the young tigers for a while and wake up and continue to take care of them.
These details were taken into a video by her and posted on Douyin , which quickly attracted the attention of netizens. Everyone was surprised to find that the majestic Siberian tiger in their imagination also had a cute and naughty side in their daily lives. They would "stay in bed" in the morning and would also have their heads hanging down because of having a quarrel with their companions.
More than 670,000 netizens followed the "tiger mom" and chased the growth status of each little tiger online. Even though Caesar has become a big tiger with hundreds of pounds more than a year later, in the eyes of fans who care about it, it is still a cute tiger.
These interactions from fans also encourage Huang Baoying to continue to engage in Siberian tiger-related work to a certain extent. A parent who impressed her deeply left a message saying that her daughter likes "tiger mom" very much. After finishing her homework, she will come to see the daily life of the tigers and is more loving to the small animals. "That mother is very happy, and I am very happy, which means that my content does make everyone like Siberian tigers more," said Huang Baoying.
"Parenting Diary" that inspired his colleagues
36-year-old Huang Baoying is considered a "young power" in the breeder team. She has her own persistence in raising Siberian tigers in science, and often does things that offend people because of this, "for example, ask everyone to record the tiger sign index every day."
Huang Baoying introduced that before her, the garden had almost no records of the tiger's body index related data. But she believes that since the birth of the young tiger, the weight, body temperature, what time to eat, what time to defecate, and even whether the poop is dry or thin, should be recorded.If a tiger has abnormalities or becomes ill one day, you can find out these data and compare them to analyze the reasons.
actually advances many difficulties. Compared with data retention, old employees who are accustomed to traditional breeding methods are more concerned about whether tigers eat and whether the tiger area is safe. When I remember my diary, I couldn't help but fool things, and some even evasively said, "I don't recognize words, how can I remember them."
Huang Baoying, who is very gentle to tigers, is quite "difficult" in this matter. Every time she handed over shifts with her colleagues, she would repeatedly emphasize the importance of data retention and carefully check the content recorded by the previous keeper on duty. If someone does not register on time, Huang Baoying will ask the other party to make up for it as soon as possible.
short video leaves a rare video record for Huang Baoying's "parenting diary". From holding the bottle without scattering claws, to jumping for the first time, to being able to eat a whole chicken and trying to hunt by yourself - netizens are chasing the Douyin account of "tiger mom", which can almost completely witness the growth of a Siberian tiger.
These short videos not only attract ordinary netizens, but also inspire many Siberian tiger workers like Huang Baoying. Huang Baoying said that after she started updating TikTok, some of her colleagues also followed the "Tiger Mom". When a young tiger has skin diseases, calcium deficiency, etc., everyone will communicate and learn from each other on Douyin. "In the end, it can always be properly solved."
vaguely, Huang Baoying also felt a "competitive" atmosphere, "Everyone will compete secretly. If you raise it well, I will raise it better." In this kind of benign interaction, more and more breeders have begun to pay attention to the regular disinfection of the venue and the hygiene cleaning of tigers. "Some tigers used to be sticky when summer comes, but now they are clean."
Tens of millions of netizens jointly protect Siberian tigers. To truly improve the endangered state of Siberian tigers, artificial breeding is not enough. In addition to the work in the zoo, Huang Baoying will also go to Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park for exchange and study, and follow the patrol staff to remove the hunting condoms and identify animal footprints.
On January 10, Huang Baoying shared a new discovery on TikTok. A wild Siberian tiger mother who once nurtured four babies in 2018 appeared in the field observation camera in 2022. Once the video was released, it quickly attracted attention. Some people were curious about how she recognized that this was the same tiger, and more netizens were happy about the expansion of the wild Siberian tiger population, just like Huang Baoying. Public data from
shows that the number of wild Siberian tigers in my country has exceeded 50, and compared with 2000, it has recovered multiply. Behind it, in addition to improving the ecological environment, it is also inseparable from the efforts of animal workers. Among them are breeders like Huang Baoying who are with Siberian tigers every day, as well as field patrolmen like Dakai who have never actually photographed Siberian tigers.
Jilin Huangnihe National Nature Reserve, where Dakai is located, is one of the habitats and breeding areas of Siberian tigers in my country. In October 2014, a sub-adult Siberian tiger was discovered here for the first time and named it "Tiger Baby". In order to allow the "tiger baby" to settle in the protected area with peace of mind, Dakai and his colleagues climbed over the hills to clean up hunting covers every day, and used infrared camera monitoring, animal feces analysis and other methods to care about the "tiger baby"'s every move.
Now, the "Tiger Baby" is almost 9 years old and is about to enter middle age. It has been eating well and living well in the reserve. It has been healthy for several years, but has encountered frequent setbacks in courtship. Affected by factors such as habitat fragmentation, there has been no record of a second Siberian tiger entering the protected area in the past few years. The "tiger baby" has become the most anxious thing for Dakai and the others.
Such difficulties may be difficult to solve by personal strength alone. Let more people pay attention to, understand, and even protect the Siberian tiger, become the common wish of Huang Baoying and Dakai.
To some extent, this wish is being realized. In mid-January, TikTok launched the Siberian Tiger Protection Area. Users can watch or shoot animal and plant videos to strive for opportunities to improve habitat vegetation and build ecological corridor for wild Siberian tigers living in protected areas such as Huangnihe in Jilin and Dajiahe in Heilongjiang.Using these ecological corridors, habitats that were originally separated by roads and villages can be connected, and the "tiger baby" can go to other territories to get to know the mother tigress they like. As of January 26, the event was launched in just 10 days and attracted 19 million netizens to participate.
is no longer someone's own business.
