htmlOn the morning of October 10, China's only captive male rabbit swelling "花后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后后Xining Wildlife Park also released an obituary for it: "In his life, he has never enjoyed the vast wild plateau and has never breathed the bitter freedom, but he used his life to let countless people know, understand, pay attention to and care about the species of rabbit sausage..." It is written with sincere feelings. As an internet celebrity animal, the accidental death of "玉Simiao" has caused heated discussion among netizens and once ranked first in the hot search on Weibo . This is certainly related to the increasing number of "cats" and the increasing number of cat lovers, and it is also closely related to the legendary origin of its online name (mating time four seconds).
For ordinary people, if we can re-examine the significance and value of the existence of modern zoos through this tragedy and correctly understand the current protection status of wild cats, it may be less regretful to leave "玉Simiao".
Wild animals have been raising captives since ancient times. It has been one of the forms of animal use by humans for economic and entertainment purposes. The purpose and value of the initial existence of modern zoos is to collect and display wild animals and provide humans with entertainment such as animal performances and feeding. The quality of life and physical and mental health of the animals themselves are not valued.
With the development of society, our concepts and methods of nature and animals are changing. Those animal performances that distort and destroy the physical and mental health of animals are gradually despised and banned; in zoos, the physical and mental health of animals should be guaranteed, and improving animal welfare has also become a consensus in the industry. How to protect wildlife scientific research and conservation and provide relevant popular science and life education for the public has become the direction and goal of efforts.
Some experts pointed out that modern zoos should play the following role in scientific research and popularization: First, protect rare animals, leave their bloodlines, and increase their number through artificial reproduction; Second, enhance the public's awareness of animals, especially on behavioral ; Third, provide natural education to the public.
"典典典" live in Xining Wildlife Park, which is also the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center. In addition to the rabbits, there are also the only pair of artificially bred snow leopard twins in China, and the only artificially bred desert cat in the world. Desert cats are small cats living on the eastern edge of on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The English name is Chinese mountain cat (Chinese bobcat) more appropriate because they are a rare species unique to our country.
Desert cats are one of the most difficult cats to keep. It has never been raised in zoos abroad. Only a few zoos in China, including Beijing, Chengdu, Xining, etc., among which only , Xining Zoo, , was raised from the origin, has successfully reproduced. At present, all desert cat captive populations in zoos have ended in failure.
and rabbits are more difficult to keep than desert cats. North American Zoo caught 24 rabbit zoos from Russia and Mongolia from 1995 to 2000, hoping to establish breeding populations, but 60% of the cubs survived for 4 months. The survival rate of rabbit zoos in European zoos is even lower, with only 39.02% of the pups living in 1997-2004.
As the only zoo in China that raises and displays rabbit horns, there are 4 plateau subspecies rabbit horns in Xining Wildlife Park. Starting from 2018, Xining Wildlife Park has started artificial breeding of rabbit trunks in the park. Because the rabbit horn's own immune system is not sound and its resistance is poor, it is very likely to threaten the life of rabbit horn.
Moreover, rabbit horns are small in size and have obvious stress response. They may go on a hunger strike or even die after being frightened. In May 2021, "Zhi Si Miao" and another rescued wild female rabbit "Zhi Shangxiang" had a love crystallization. But at 3 months old, the three young boys developed diarrhea and vomiting, and in the end only the strongest "如子子" survived. Now, she has become the only blood inheritance of "Zhi Si Miao".
, the cases of conserving wild cats in difficult and tortuous ways, also remind us that at the moment when domestic cats have replaced domestic dogs and become the number one pets of humans, the living conditions of wild relatives of the "Cats" are not optimistic.Small cats such as Asian wildcats, desert cats and jungle cats and , distributed in my country, shoulder important ecological functions. Therefore, it is urgent to popularize the understanding of their ecological value and improve protection efforts.
There are many problems that need to be reflected on and reviewed in the death of "玉Simiao", but if it can further arouse the public's attention to wildlife protection, it is also the best commemoration of it.
Source | Pengpai News
Editor | Yang Chuying
Editor:
Source: Pengpai News
