I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 530: Birth of the Collared Dove

Ponytail pondered, "Are you talking about the role of wildlife in the ecological environment?"

Fang Ye said, "The truth is that our separation from nature is too deep now, and many people lack an understanding of wildlife. They either demonize the animals or underestimate them.

Take this incident of the Amur tiger coming down from the mountains. At first, it was all about spectators and live broadcasts. Everyone was having a great time watching the excitement, saying that the ecological environment has improved. But then, when there were attacks on people, everyone suddenly became scared and anxious.

The commotion it caused here seemed like some sort of terrifying event. Many people feel that having a tiger nearby is unacceptable, yet in Russia, where there are far more tigers, they deal with over 100 human-tiger conflicts every year.

Some conflicts are minor, just tigers appearing around villages, while others are more serious, like tigers attacking livestock or dogs, and even people. There are different solutions for different conflicts.

Mount Liupan in Ningxia is one of the areas with the highest number of wild leopards in China. There, leopards can be found as close as 200 meters from villages. In winter, they also come down from the mountains to the relatively warmer farm fields and areas near residences to forage and keep warm.

While coexisting with humans, the leopards try to minimize contact with people to avoid conflict. The locals occasionally see leopards in the mountains and have never been attacked, so they affectionately call the leopard ’gentleman.’ Isn’t this also a harmonious coexistence?

It’s not that we can’t coexist. We have been coexisting with these animals from past to present, and they are not as scary as some think. Only through knowledge and understanding can people’s attitudes and ideas gradually change."

After listening, Ponytail said sincerely, "Thank you, Director! I will take note of the examples you mentioned. With them, I’ll be more persuasive when debating with trolls online."

Fang Ye couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "Why bother trying to convince trolls? I’ve never seen a troll admit they’re wrong online. They are stubborn even when they’re wrong. You might as well talk to your classmates and family members and consider it a form of science outreach. You’re a student at Xinghe University, right?"

Ponytail sighed, "Yeah. If I had known these animals were so interesting, I wouldn’t have studied software. I’m thinking about changing my major next semester!"

Fang Ye did not want to comment on the matter of changing majors, since it was tied to the student’s future development, but he suggested, "You could sit in on Teacher Wang Yan’s classes. He used to conduct research around Mount Liupan. I heard him talk about these things."

...

Liu Xueqing opened the door and stepped onto the balcony to take down some clothes.

Today was the weekend, and she was planning to take Yingying to the zoo, having heard that new animals were on display. Your journey continues with novelhall.Côm

While taking the clothes, she habitually glanced at the flowerpot on the edge of the balcony.

On the blooming trellis, there was a bird that resembled a pigeon, with a neck ringed with spots.

Thinking it was just feathers for nesting, she was surprised to see the fluff move!

Upon closer inspection, her eyes widened, and she unconsciously covered her mouth.

The baby collared dove had hatched!

Its yellow down made it look somewhat like a chick or duckling, and its large eyes remained tightly shut, unopened.

Overcome with excitement, she quickly took a couple of photos.

Liu Xueqing had already taken many pictures: of the doves incubating, of them carrying twigs to build the nest, documenting the dove’s growth process, occasionally sharing them on her social media.

It used to be fashionable to show off one’s children, but now, not so much—showing off animals seems much more interesting.

Friends, colleagues, and even her boss would jokingly ask about the current state of her family’s collared dove upon meeting, urging her to post updates quickly.

"Hey, Yingying, our family’s dove has hatched its egg!"

Yingying heard the good news right after waking up.

She climbed onto a stool and eagerly peered at the newly hatched little collared dove through the balcony.

Although her view wasn’t very clear, the excitement was overwhelming!

Stretching her arms out, she imitated a little bird and started running back and forth in the living room.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

A question popped into her head: "Mama, how old do birds have to be to fly?"

Liu Xueqing laughed, "I don’t know, let’s observe together!"

Soon after, Yingying’s father drove the family of three to the zoo.