I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 32: 32: The Killing Matt Alpaca

The nursery was on the second floor of the office building.

The zoo's vet hospital was also here, though it was quite rudimentary.

"Good afternoon, Director!"

An animal keeper happened to come out of the office building, greeted them, and curiously glanced at the little Lolita behind Fang Ye, seemingly wondering about their relationship, but didn't ask and went about their business.

Fang Ye turned to Tang Xiaoxin to instruct her, "When you see Ice Cake, don't get too excited and shout; it has a good sense of hearing now. Try to be gentle in your movements too. Ice Cake is still a baby, don't scare it, or I'll throw you out."

The nursery, unless it was one open to the visitors where they could watch the animal keepers feed milk through a glass window or watch the baby animals play.

Usually, it was no place for idle people.

The little Lolita cherished this opportunity, patting her chest, "I'm a baby too, super well-behaved!"

The nursery wasn't very big, about thirty square meters or so.

In one corner, a small area was padded with mats and towels and enclosed with wooden railings, which was Ice Cake's play area, complete with a few animal plushies.

The soft plushies served as pillows, which Ice Cake could cuddle with while sleeping, similar to holding its mother, to bring it more security.

The table was cluttered with various tools like a water heater, water thermometer, milk bottles, measuring tape, and a baby scale.

Beside it was a rather messy bed where the animal keepers could sleep at night to take care of Ice Cake easily, with Lan Li or Fang Ye typically on the night shift.

Lan Li was lying on the mat with Ice Cake, and upon seeing Fang Ye gently push the door open, sat up and said, "Director."

"Mmm~ Ahwu~"

Ice Cake was humming and whining in Lan Li's arms, flailing its little paws about.

Seeing its neither-sleeping-nor energetic appearance, Fang Ye guessed what was going on.

"Did you just feed it?"

"Yes."

Their conversation was whispered.

Ice Cake lifted its head, its ears twitching as if it heard someone talking.

Lan Li looked toward Tang Xiaoxin, "Director, your relative?"

Fang Ye briefly introduced, "The young girl is a big fan of our zoo, especially fond of Ice Cake, and came here specifically to see it. I brought her over to take a look."

The little Lolita smiled sweetly, "Hello, Sister~"

"Oh, hello."

Ice Cake, having just been fed, was quite content.

Resting its head in the palm of Lan Li's hand, it looked their way while leisurely sucking on her finger.

It wasn't hungry, just felt like nibbling on something.

Lan Li's finger tickled from being licked, so she lifted Ice Cake's paw to its mouth.

Ice Cake seemed not to notice the change and kept on licking and nibbling at its own paw, apparently enjoying the taste.

"So cute!"

Tang Xiaoxin's eyes sparkled with hearts; her trip to the zoo was totally worth it!

Fang Ye smiled, "Didn't you want to take pictures?"

"Oh, right!"

The little Lolita hastily fumbled for her phone.

She had wanted to find a good angle, but she discovered that no matter how she took photos of the little White Tiger, they all looked great!

Eyes wide open, eyes squinted, front face, profile, tongue out, licking its paw...

She took dozens of photos in one go, thoroughly satisfied.

Seeing Ice Cake's eyes constantly watching them, Tang Xiaoxin asked curiously, "Director, you said in your live stream last time that Ice Cake's vision wasn't fully developed yet. Can it see us now?"

Fang Ye shook his head and chuckled, "Although Ice Cake's eyes are fully open now, her vision is still very poor, and she bumps into wooden boards when she crawls on the ground. However, she finds a shady spot to lie down when she sleeps or rests, which shows she is already sensitive to light.

Right now, when she looks at us, she can only vaguely sense that something is there, but can't make out what it is."

As he spoke, he extended his hand in front of Ice Cake, waving it in a circle, and indeed, Ice Cake's eyes continued to stare straight ahead without following his hand.

With a casual stroke on Ice Cake's head, he said, "Growth is still pretty rapid!"

Tang Xiaoxin watched with envy, "Director, can I touch her?"

"Sure, just wash your hands first, but don't touch too long, okay?"

The little girl washed and dried her hands, then mimicked Fang Ye's motions, gently stroking Ice Cake's head, her face beaming with happiness!

The feel was similar to that of her own cat's—um, maybe the fur was a bit denser?

In any case, it was awesome!

After petting the head, she also touched the soft belly and gently pinched the tiny paws.

She felt as if she was floating on air, about to fly, simply heavenly.

It took a while before she let go, saying goodbye to Ice Cake reluctantly.

As they left the office building, Tang Xiaoxin kept looking back, her tone full of reluctance, "Director, will there be more chances to touch Ice Cake in the future?"

"When she's young, you can touch her, but definitely not once she's grown up!"

"But the big tiger seems to listen to you quite well, so why not?"

Fang Ye just smiled without speaking.

Even with his company, indeed, it was possible to ensure the tiger wouldn't attack and allow visitors to interact.

But, after all, this is a ferocious animal with powerful aggression!

If visitors think that tigers can be touched freely, believing they are the same as other harmless small animals, and lose their basic reverence for ferocious beasts, incidents such as provoking tigers or climbing into the tiger enclosure might occur.

Zoos have the responsibility to foster and guide public awareness, so this isn't allowed.

Tang Xiaoxin's eyes twinkled, "Then can I pet Ice Cake more while she's still small?"

"That's also not possible; today was already an exception for you!"

"Eh~" The little girl pouted.

But thinking about it, being able to touch a little White Tiger with her own hands was already rare!

Many people never get that chance in their lifetime.

Fang Ye said with a smile, "If you want to pet something, you can pet an alpaca to your heart's content!"

"Alpaca?"

Tang Xiaoxin's interest was immediately piqued.

Although she often saw alpacas in videos, she had never actually seen one in person!

Alpaca pen!

There were no cages here since alpacas are not aggressive and, unlike peafowl, cannot fly. The space was merely enclosed by a simple circle of railings.

Several alpacas were strolling about the pen, and Fang Ye walked in with the little girl.

The closest one was a brown alpaca whose hair on top seemed not to have been groomed for a while, disheveled into locks, exploding rebelliously, with a few strands hanging down, partially covering one eye.

It was practically the emo kid among alpacas!

Realizing someone had come in, it looked at them disdainfully with the eye not obscured by the messy hair, slowly chewing a blade of grass in its mouth.

It seemed to say: ?In these parts, we reign supreme?Don't you see this is our turf, what business do you have breezing in here??

"Pfft!" The little girl couldn't help but burst into laughter, almost crying with amusement, "Director, this alpaca is so funny!"

She reached out to pet it, but Emo Alpaca snorted from its nostrils, flicking its head away and walking off, staring angrily.

?Take your hands away, I'm not the kind of alpaca you can touch?!