I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 117: Chapter 117 Preparing to Blend In

Early in the morning, Fang Ye had finished breakfast and arrived at the isolation area.

"Hey, how are you guys doing? Did you sleep well?"

He squatted in front of the wolf enclosure, greeting them with a beaming smile.

A few wolves got up, wagging their tails and crowded over to the edge of the cage, looking at him with friendly eyes and showing an affectionate attitude.

We slept well, really well! It's just that the cage is a bit small and cramped!

After watching Fang Ye for a while, they slightly lowered their heads or turned their heads aside to avoid staring at him directly. One of the wolves stuck out its tongue, trying to press its head against the railing as if it really wanted to lick his face.

However, letting Charcoal and Mizzle lick my face is one thing, for fostering a bond, but if every single wolf wants to lick my face, it would feel a bit too promiscuous.

Some wolves lay on the ground, eyes fixated on the basin beside him with frowned brows and twitching noses, sniffing hard at some strange scent.

Their puzzled looks seemed to say, "Is it because the smell of disinfectant these days is too strong, or am I smelling something wrong?"

Next to Fang Ye were two basins, one contained a few pieces of dark objects, and the other held several green-colored items.

Ming, responsible for disinfecting and cleaning the quarantine area, had an odd expression as he carefully examined the contents of the basins. Why do these things look so much like shit? No, isn't this actually shit?

The very next second, as he doubted his life choices, Fang Ye tossed the dark feces into the wolf enclosure!

The wolves immediately rushed to where the feces had landed, noisily forming a circle around them, sniffing and clawing at the droppings with great interest.

Let me smell, let me smell!

Move over, let me sniff first!

Ming couldn't help but ask curiously, "Director, what is this for?"

Just when I thought it was about keeping the enclosure clean during quarantine, why throw poop inside? Did the director have a sudden bout of madness?

Fang Ye explained, "This is Charcoal and Mizzle's wolf feces. I'm giving it to them so they can get a sense of their companions' scents they have not yet met. This can make socializing less difficult!"

Ming scratched his head, it actually sounded quite sensible!

Wolves have sharp teeth and claws, and if they fight fiercely, blood may be drawn and injuries might occur.

When Fang Ye bought the wolves, he made a point of selecting neither the strong and young wolves nor the old ones, so that when it came time to integrate the groups, Charcoal and Mizzle could easily take command of the pack.

But what if there is a hot-headed young wolf among them who insists on a fight to the death? Or what if all these wolves from Boulders Safari are close-knit, form their own pack, and collectively exclude Charcoal and Mizzle?

To prevent excessive aggressive behavior during animal socialization, it's best to carry it out in stages rather than mixing them all at once.

The first step is a non-contact detection phase, allowing animals to perceive and familiarize themselves with each other without physical contact. For example, allowing them to see each other through cages, hear each other's voices, or exchange each other's droppings, bedding, secretions, etc.

After these wolves have sniffed the feces of Charcoal and Mizzle, they'll recognize their scent, and when they meet, they'll be like, 'Oh, so you're the owner of that scent!' and it'll make communication easier.

It's a bit like matchmaking. If parents and matchmakers were to arrange a meeting spot for the couple right off the bat, the encounter might be awkward due to their unfamiliarity.

But if they first add each other on WeChat, have a chat, inquire about each other's jobs, hobbies, etc., and get to know one another, then meeting up for a meal will be more natural. After dining, going to the movies feels like a smooth progression.

The second step involves limited contact. Seeing the animals calm and even curious upon contact, they can be allowed to touch noses or paws through a metal grid as a form of greeting, akin to sitting down for a meal together.

The apertures of the metal grid must be small enough not to injure each other. Also, if an animal shows an urgent desire to make contact, there's no need to gradually accustom them through the cage, which could dampen their enthusiasm; it's better to proceed to the third step of full contact sooner.

Watching the wolves sniff around at the feces, Fang Ye patted Ming on the shoulder, "Remember to clean it up later, alright?"

Another basin contained the greenish feces of Chestnut and Red Bean, which were green because of the bamboo they ate, and they didn't smell bad at all; in fact, they had a fresh bamboo fragrance.

These feces should also be given to the new red pandas to sniff!

Introducing new red pandas is relatively simple, as they have a gentle nature and aren't prone to fighting, and even if they do, the animal keeper can easily step in and separate them.

The Asian forest tortoise is even more straightforward, being shy and docile, so there's no worry about new and old individuals fighting. And even if they did fight, what could they do...

Little Black: "You've annoyed me, take this, a shell charge!"

Xiaoxuan used the Withdraw move, tucking its limbs and head into the shell!

Little Black collided with the shell, and neither side got the upper hand!

Thinking about the scene of two tortoises fighting is quite funny.

Of course, if the size difference is too great, the big tortoise might end up eating the little one, so it's better not to keep them together.

After checking on all the newly introduced animals, they seemed to be adapting well, and Mingming seemed a bit more spirited, not looking as listless as before.

[Red panda: Mingming

Age: 15 years old

Mood: Calm

Health status: Fair

Advice: Sunbathe, rest more!]

Fang Ye muttered, "Hmm, not bad!"

If Mingming's condition was still poor, they might need to have Lin Ying check if it needed some medicine or something.

After taking a tour of the quarantine area, he then headed to the office building for the morning meeting, listening to the animal keepers report on the animals' conditions and discussing enrichment plans.

Fang Ye asked, "How are the animals doing? Is there anything out of the ordinary?"

Although he patrolled the exhibits every day, a brief look around didn't reveal much.

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In the wild, once animals show any weakness, they are quickly targeted for attack. Even if they are sick or starving, no matter how weak they may be, they always have to muster their strength and exhibit a healthy posture.

Some animals might look perfectly healthy, but then suddenly die one day, and upon inspection, they'd been ill for a long time.

The Eye of Observation could see the health status of animals, but it required more mental effort and made the animals feel uncomfortable being watched, so it relied on the animal keepers who were specifically in charge to closely observe and spot any anomalies.

He Yifei said, "Director, I've noticed that Jingwen seems a little down lately."

Jingwen is one of the red-and-green macaws!

The original codes, like Parrot 1 and Parrot 2, now all had official names.

The male macaws were named Jin, from their species name, and the females took the homophone Jing for their surname.

Based on their characteristics, the artistic macaw was called Jingwen, one that started swaying and lifting its claws at the sound of music was called Jingwu, the one talented at speaking was named Jinzhi, and the one that loved energetic electronic music and could even DJ was named Jin Martin.