I have a wildlife zoo

Fang Ye called the city\'s Forestry Bureau to inquire and learned that the process to apply for giant pandas is extremely complicated!

First, one needs to prepare a pile of materials, such as the "Application Form for Administrative Permit Matters of Wildlife Protection and Management," legal person certificate, organization code certificate, and other institutional proofs.

There\'s also the need for a national key protected wildlife breeding permit for the panda species, the borrower\'s display and giant panda breeding management and public education plan, and written opinions from the forestry administrative authorities of the provincial-level people\'s governments of both parties involved in the display...

Just preparing these materials is troublesome!

After applying to the National Forestry Bureau, they must evaluate the borrower\'s giant panda breeding management plan, venue facilities, or conduct on-site inspections. During the display period, it\'s mandatory to establish a panda case file and a breeding log, indicating details such as panda breeding management and medical health, among a series of regulations.

In any case, Fang Ye estimated that preparing the materials, applying, and waiting for approval would take at least two to three months, and that\'s not even a guarantee of success. This was far more difficult than his application for contracting tens of thousands of square meters of land from the city.

However difficult, it\'s still worth a try!

He\'ll leave the task of running around for materials to a lucky employee. The employee can do the running, while he\'s responsible for stamping and signing.

Renting a giant panda can\'t be rushed, so he continued to consider other animals.

He had previously arranged a temporary small exhibition hall for the red fox, but now he could consider swapping it for a larger exhibition hall, to house different animals together!

The choice of animals for cohabitation is quite deliberate.

One approach is to cohabit animals that are similar in various aspects. The most typical example is lions and tigers. Both are carnivorous felines with similar body sizes and appearances.

Although lions and tigers kept together may fight, it is no different from tigers fighting with tigers, or lions with lions. The combat strength of tigers and lions is roughly the same, so there\'s no situation where one completely overpowers the other.

If tigers were kept together with bears or wolves, that could be far more dangerous as they wouldn\'t be able to coexist harmoniously like tigers and lions.

Of course, animals that might breed indiscriminately can\'t be mixed casually. If cohabiting, reproductive control measures must be taken. For example, giraffes can be displayed with only female giraffes on show, and the breeding male giraffes kept separate from different subspecies of female giraffe groups.

Otherwise, hybrids from different subspecies or even species would lose the meaning of natural education and species preservation.

The Japanese macaque is known as the "snow monkey" because it becomes covered in white snow when winter arrives. It has even evolved the communal habit of soaking in hot springs, creating the famous "snow monkey hot spring" attraction.

In Japan\'s Takagoyama Natural Zoo, a group of snow monkeys lives, but the staff once noticed that some monkeys didn\'t look like snow monkeys. Genetic tests confirmed that indeed, part of the monkeys did not possess pure Japanese macaque genes.

An investigation found that several years ago, some snow monkeys in the park had escaped and mated with wild monkeys outside, which were ordinary macaques and an invasive species. Altogether they produced 57 offspring. These mixed-breed monkeys, in accordance with Japan\'s environmental laws, were eventually euthanized.

It might be somewhat cruel, but this is also a measure that we must take to protect biodiversity and prevent the gene pollution of local species. Otherwise, the indigenous species will gradually go extinct.

The green peafowl is one of the most well-known victims of gene pollution. Now, many zoo green peafowls in China, because of a lack of awareness in the past, have mixed to some extent with genes of the blue peafowl.

Moreover, with the release of captive-bred peafowl into the wild and the escape of farm-bred peafowl, most wild green peafowls are already hybrids with blue peafowl. In time, we may no longer see the native Chinese mythological green peafowl, only the foreign blue peafowl.

Mixed-species exhibits of animals with differences can consider those that do not utilize the same resources, like arboreal and terrestrial species—one living in trees and the other on the ground, situated in different strata, not only conducive to harmonious coexistence but also forming a three-dimensional display effect.

Alternatively, diurnal animals paired with nocturnal animals, with one being active while the other sleeps, naturally reduces competition.

Differences in size can also be considered, such as mixing bison with small cervids. Larger animals, once accustomed, generally do not bully smaller ones; instead, it is the smaller animal that might attack the larger ones to protect its territory.

Avoid aggressive species. For example, male zebras are sensitive and aggresive, while female zebras are gentle. In that case, separate the male zebras for individual husbandry, display the female zebras or mix them with other herbivores, bringing back the males only for mating.

Primates are the most difficult to mix with other species. They are either focused on using violence to protect their territory or harassing other animals out of curiosity.

For instance, when macaques are mixed with deer, the mischievous monkeys like to ride the gentle deer like a transport, riding them around, and when bored, pull their tails and yank their ears. And some monkeys, uncomfortable within their troop and wanting to get close to a female, might be intimidated by the Monkey King.

When their desires are not fulfilled, they could entertain improper thoughts towards the adorable deer, rubbing against them, engaging in unspeakable acts.

Of course, the mild-mannered deer may not mind, which could be considered an unusual friendship between animals.

Overall, when considering mixed-species exhibits, one must consider various pieces of information such as behavioral characteristics. The most important thing is to learn from nature, to see which animals coexist in the wild, which can greatly increase the success rate of mixed-species exhibits.

Fang Ye thought it over and decided to mix the red fox with sika deer and bharal! With properly arranged environments and the intervention of animal keepers, these animals should be able to cohabitate.

The sika deer has white spots on its fur that look like plum blossoms and is a very representative cervid species in China.

The bharal is morphologically between a goat and a sheep, native to the area near the Himalayas, mainly living in high mountain rocky areas. It is excellent at climbing and can travel and climb on nearly vertical cliffs. However, it is very adaptable, tolerating extreme heat and cold as well as strong winds, ranging from high-altitude alpine meadows to mid-altitude scrub forests.

These animals, first of all, both the bharal and the sika deer are herbivores with generally low aggression. Even though the red fox is an omnivore and eats meat, it preys on smaller animals like frogs, small birds, and rabbits, causing no direct conflict.

If conflict arises among the animals, it is more likely due to invading each other\'s territory, thus specific environments should be arranged for them.

The bharal has powerful limbs, short and firm hooves, and is suited for running and jumping among the rugged mountain cliffs! Therefore, the exhibit design can include a rocky mountainous area, which the bharal will naturally favor.

The sika deer likes staying in slope forests nibbling on the tender leaves of shrubs, while the red fox can stay anywhere, so their living areas can be planted with fewer plants and more sand.

With each species having its suitable living environment and the animal enclosures placed near their tailored habitats, the chance of conflicts naturally decreases.