Chapter 12 What Does the Fox Say?

Outside the enclosure.

A little girl wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat and a white dress, holding her mother's hand, excitedly hopping on the spot while pointing at several foxes, called out in a childish voice, "Little Joy, Little Joy!"

Mama smiled and said, "That's right, little foxes! The little foxes are sleeping soundly!"

A man, probably annoyed that the foxes were all asleep and there wasn't much to see, started banging loudly on the railing, "Hey, wake up! Move around a bit!"

The Crown Prince continued to sleep like a dead pig, completely unaffected, with the corners of his mouth glistening, as if drool was about to drip down.

Youyou's ears twitched and then froze instantly; her body shrank lower, huddling closely with her mates out of fear, only in this way could she feel a bit safe.

Xiaoqiao's slender eyes opened and glanced at the man clanging the railing, then rolled her eyes.

Contempt and annoyance were written all over her face.

She then closed her eyes again, continuing to sleep.

But the slits of her half-closed eyes were sharp like knives, no longer resembling the graceful and beautiful willow leaves from before.

She felt very annoyed!

At this moment, she probably thought: (Click to view)

Man: ?????

Why do I feel like I was just scorned by a fox?

Ho had already approached and pointed at a sign nearby, "Excuse me, but please don't bang on the railing. This behavior is prohibited in our zoo..."

The man scowled and snorted through his nose, clearly displeased.

However, as there was already a staff member intervening, he didn't continue to argue.

He cursed openly, "Damn, what a crappy zoo, deserves to have no visitors..."

He turned and walked away, apparently not planning to stay any longer.

Ho wore a helpless smile, "I'm very sorry..."

"That's too much!" Lan Li frowned and whispered.

Fang Ye chuckled, "No big deal, as long as we don't encounter the kind that requires calling security, it's all good."

He was also annoyed by such people, but he knew that such situations were not unrelated to the zoo itself.

In the planning of a zoo, there are generally four main elements.

Visitors, animals, staff, operations.

Among them, visitors are given the highest priority.

Why aren't the animals the highest priority?

A zoo is not an animal rescue center; the ultimate goal of building a zoo is to influence people and convey the message of conservation education.

Of course, putting visitors first doesn't mean fulfilling every request they have, such as feeding, banging on railings, circuses, and so on.

Indiscriminately catering to them might satisfy some visitors, but harming animal welfare would hinder the zoo's function and, in the long run, ultimately harm the interests of all visitors.

Therefore, the zoo must balance meeting the demands of visitors with the welfare of animals.

Visitors come to the zoo to see interesting and natural scenes, lively and cute animals.

The man just now was bored with the red foxes sleeping in the corner and wanted to see them do something else, so he banged on the railing to get them up.

While there are reasons the zoo didn't meet the visitor's expectations, such behavior is indeed of low quality.

The best way to solve these problems is not by hanging a "Do Not Bang on Railings" sign or having security patrol the area.

It's by designing the zoo with environments that mimic nature, enriching the scenery and giving animals more opportunities to display their behavior.

For example, placing a few bushes in the middle might entice the red foxes to scurry through and play hide and seek.

With a stream running through, when it gets hot from the sun, they'll naturally play and frolic by the water instead of all hiding in a corner to sleep.

Even if they're sleeping, in a forest-like environment, with long grass waving like waves, and animals lying on the grass, tired from play, in comical poses to rest, would visitors still have the heart to disturb them?

This is the difference between exhibition-style and immersive-style displays.

Display-style exhibits are not conducive to fostering feelings of appreciation and respect for animals among visitors.

After the man banging on the railing left,

Sugar Pack, sleeping in a peculiar arch-bridge pose, seemed to be woken up. She lifted her hind leg, cocked her head, and began to scratch, scratch, scratch at the snowy white fluff under her neck...

While scratching, she suddenly flopped to the ground and rolled over effortlessly.

Standing up, she shook her head and fluffed up her body evenly. Her face was bright and sunny, showing no irritation from being disturbed in her sleep.

She slept very well!

The little girl was overjoyed, her voice milky, "Mama, Little Joy is getting up!"

"Yes, the red fox is waking up! Why don't you greet her?"

As they spoke, Sugar Pack trotted up to the railing, showing great interest in the new visitors who had just arrived.

Her eyes seemed to naturally smile, making everyone feel unconsciously happy when looking at her.

"Hello, Little Joy!" said the little girl earnestly, "My name is Xuanxuan, what's your name?"

Sugar Pack: ...?

"Mama, why doesn't Little Joy speak?"

Of course, it's because foxes can't talk!

Although this was the correct answer, nobody wanted to dampen the mood by saying it out loud, and instead, they all smiled warmly, watching the little girl.

That is the charm of childhood innocence.

Sometimes children say things that are extremely innocent and carefree.

Pure and lovable children, like the pure animals, can relax people's minds.

Mama appeared to be a bit at a loss too, not sure how to respond.

An elderly lady visitor bent down with great interest and cooed, "Rooo~ rooroorooro..."

Sugar Pack was dumbfounded, her mouth wide open, a look of astonishment on her face: ???

Shortly after, she also responded, "Yingyingyingyingying... "

How does a fox cry out?

This is how a fox cries.

In fact, the sound she made was a mix of "ah" and "um," resulting in "awoo awoo awoo," but rather shrill, so it sounded a bit like "yingyingying."

The old lady took a bun out of her bag and wiggled it twice: "Rooo~ rooroorooro?"

Fang Ye: ...

Before he could stop her,

the old lady had already torn off a piece of the bun and thrown it in.

Caught completely off guard!

Sugar Pack sniffed the piece of bun twice and pressed it with her paw before lifting her head, seemingly uninterested.

Ho hurried to say, "Grandma, I'm sorry, but our zoo does not allow feeding."

The old lady looked unconvinced, continued to break off a piece, "Hey, I know, you feed yours, and I'll feed mine!"

Lan Li couldn't help but step forward to persuade, "Grandma, I know you mean well, but these animals don't lack food, and their diets are carefully prepared by us animal keepers.

Think about it, if your grandson wants to snack and you let him, wouldn't he become reluctant to eat his meals? He might slowly become picky, which isn't good for his health..."

She appealed to her emotions and explained with reason.

After much persuasion, they finally got the old lady to reluctantly put away the bun.

Fang Ye silently sighed.

In his heart, the idea of quickly rebuilding the zoo grew even stronger!