I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 34: 34: Making a Taoist Sanctuary Inside a Snail Shell

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Of course, the main dish shouldn't be served too late; otherwise, everyone would be too full to appreciate its excellence.

It was with such considerations in mind that Fang Ye decided to place the tiger exhibit somewhere in the middle of the circular touring route.

Where to put the red panda exhibit?

It can't be at the entrance. They're too cute, and visitors will spend so much time watching them that they won't want to continue walking.

Too far away isn't good either; it keeps visitors in too much suspense. There are definitely those who especially love red pandas, and they might ignore other animals just to see them. If it's too far ahead, they'll miss a lot of content.

After some thought, Fang Ye decided to place the red panda exhibit on the outside side, just after the first exhibit upon entering the zoo.

What the first exhibit will display isn't determined yet, but it definitely won't be the red pandas.

Then it was time to focus on the specific design of the red panda exhibit.

Along the winding path outside the exhibit, umbrella bamboo could be planted, interspersed with red-purple cuckoo flowers and blue dwarf periwinkles, beside a meandering stream to create a habitat atmosphere.

The exterior wall could use natural bamboo as the building material, fitting the theme of the red panda exhibit and letting visitors immerse themselves even more.

From the viewing perspective, the glass curtain wall would be slightly bent at small angles, dividing it into three sections to offer visitors different viewing angles.

The ceiling would protect visitors from the sun and rain, while reducing the reflection on the glass curtain wall.

Even though the exhibit area is small, it doesn't mean it's simple. As the saying goes, one can still achieve enlightenment in a snail's shell; a small exhibition hall can also have many designs to enrich and enliven it.

Red pandas usually reside in large tree hollows or stone caves and crevices among rocks, so first, a stone cavern was designed for them.

In the middle, raise a mound of earth slightly so that there's a gentle hill about 40 centimeters above the ground.

Arrange several big bluish-grey stones on the mound. Stones that resemble potatoes in their plumpness and heaviness are partially buried, with space in the middle. A flatter, elongated stone resembling an eggplant is placed on the outer edge to cover the top, with a slightly smaller stone placed in front to block the entrance.

The gap left at the end should have a vertical spacing roughly the width of a red panda's head.

With that, a bunker-like stone cavern was completed.

The red panda could crawl inside and peer out at the activities outside.

It's like a machine gunner in a bunker scouting through a square firing hole.

However, the entrance faces the glass wall, so...

By raising the height of the "bunker" with the mound and adding a few meters of distance, visitors wouldn't need to crouch or lie down; with just a slight look downward, they could see the adorable sight of a red panda peering out—if it was inside.

The purpose of the bunker is not only to provide a hiding place for the red panda.

The flat stone on top can also let it lay there, basking in the sun lazily.

One of the red panda's hobbies is sunbathing on sunny mountain cliffs or treetops, which is why the locals in Sichuan call them "mountain menders."

Trees are essential for displaying the natural behavior of red pandas!

Red pandas are skilled climbers; they spend over fifty percent of their time in trees and can quickly climb tall trees and move between them to evade predators when in danger.

Since the red panda's primary habitat is temperate forests with dense bamboo undergrowth at an altitude of 1500-4800 meters, Fang Ye chose ginkgos and camphor trees because these have relatively thick branches.

Add a couple of dead pine trees with hollows, which make excellent hiding places and whose trunks can serve as components of perches.

Add a bit of support to the perches to make climbing trees more stable and safer for the red pandas.

The trees inside the exhibit can't be as dense as those in the wild, with large branches intertwining with each other.

Therefore, between two trees, install a rope and wooden plank ladder, with the wooden planks spaced apart and the rope swinging gently to simulate the shaking of branches, allowing red pandas to move between different trees.

Some might wonder, why not plant bamboo?

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Bamboo, as the main diet of red pandas, could never be fully consumed in the wild with such abundance at their disposal.

However, when planted in the exhibit, they could only munch on a few stalks before the bamboo died within days, turning it into a single-use item.

The bamboo in the panda exhibit had to be chopped and transported in from the outside.

"Is there anything else we're missing?"

Fang Ye paused to think and then realized, yes, they needed water!

The ideal temperature for red pandas is 10 to 25 degrees Celsius, and in a southern city like Linhai, winter temperatures aren't too low, but summers can be quite hot.

A winding stream around the mounds, even with the addition of a few misters to increase humidity and reduce temperature, could also create a misty effect.

With the sunshine sprinkling through, the red pandas leisurely strolling on the tree trunks amid the faint mist would indeed present a beautiful scene.

Perfect!

Including the visitor pavilion and the animal housing, the final area of the red panda exhibit was 330 square meters, costing 15,000 green leaf coins.

An absolute bargain.

"Hahahaha!" Fang Ye laughed uproariously, filled with pride, "My little darlings, from now on, live happily in this place!"

After admiring the beautifully constructed interface of the red panda exhibit for a while, he continued with the design of the other exhibits.

Fang Ye planned to save some green leaf coins on the wolf exhibit, so he was preparing to compromise on the other exhibits.

For instance, peafowl don't need an exhibit at all!

Although peafowl can fly similar to chickens, it's more like gliding than flying.

And they generally don't fly without reason, preferring to walk on the ground and only taking to the trees to escape predators.

So why keep them in concrete and iron cages? Just let them roam on a spacious lawn, add a few bushes, and enclose the area with a simple wooden fence about thirty to forty centimeters high.

The peafowl would be able to freely walk around on the lawn, and visitors could enjoy an unobstructed view—all while being happy on both sides.

And the cost is low!

A square meter of lawn only costs one green leaf coin. Factor in the fence, and 300 square meters would max out at 500 green leaf coins.

Additionally, although the blue peafowl is beautiful, breeding them is well established, and there's no fear of unexpected incidents.

If it were the nationally protected green peafowl, Fang Ye wouldn't dare to do such a thing. He would at least wait for the relevant protective measures to be implemented.

Otherwise, what if some idiot visitor ran onto the lawn and tried to pluck a peafowl's tail feathers?

Alpacas don't need an exhibit either!

Visitors have normal emotional needs to get close to, touch, and feed animals.

However, which animals they can interact with and how must be reasonably arranged and guided by the zoo.

Docile domestic or semi-domestic animals with mild temperaments and weak aggression, like alpacas, sheep, pigs, and rabbits, are the most suitable. A "little ranch" could be created to satisfy visitors' desires for close contact with the animals.

There used to be a children's playground in the zoo, equipped with slides, trampolines, seesaws, and the like; setting up such features in a zoo is just frivolous.

The playground had been abandoned for a long time, with patches of rust forming on the slides.

The location of that area, towards the end of the circular visiting route, is actually quite good, making it an ideal spot for the "little ranch".

The play equipment would be dismantled and removed, and sand pits and grassy areas installed.

This way, the exhibit for alpacas was effortlessly resolved.