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The tiger exhibit was under construction, and the design for the red panda exhibit was complete, while the alpaca and peafowl were settled in a cost-effective manner.
As for the macaques and red foxes...
Fang Ye thought that Monkey Mountain, where the macaques lived, was still acceptable.
When the zoo was first established, Monkey Mountain was designed to accommodate hundreds of macaques over a large area of one thousand square meters.
Now that only about a dozen remained after the transfer, there was plenty of space to spare.
Possibly due to Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West", everyone assumed that monkeys should live in a place like Flowers and Fruit Mountain or Water Curtain Cave, and in the days before the concept of animal welfare was understood, zoos building monkey exhibits generally included a mountain.
The natural habitat of macaques indeed lies among the steep rocky mountains, beside streams and valleys, and along the forests or sparse woods on riverbanks. Constructing Monkey Mountain inadvertently aligned with animal welfare, fulfilling their needs for climbing and social hierarchy expression.
However, in Fang Ye's view, there were still many shortcomings with the current Monkey Mountain. It was a pit-style enclosure, which easily triggered the visitors' desire to feed from above. Additionally, the entertainment facilities were not very enriching.
The advantage of the large space was that the macaques typically played around the middle of Monkey Mountain, keeping a distance from the edges, which lessened the impact of feeding. Coupled with the zoo's typically low visitor numbers, no significant begging behavior had developed.
The purpose of displaying wild animals in captive environments is conservation education, to exhibit their natural behaviors in the wild, not to do nothing, stand at the edge of the exhibit, and eagerly wait for human feeding.
In fact, what zoo animals eat every day is scientifically balanced. If you're not allowed to feed, don't feed. But there are always visitors who insist on feeding, leading to many animals suffering from poor health and bad habits.
Fang Ye thought that taking over such a declining zoo might actually be a good thing. With fewer animals, their living space was relatively spacious. With fewer visitors, animal keepers could supervise more effectively, reducing the influence of feeding and the pressure from being watched.
So currently, although some of the zoo's animals were not very lively, at least no severe stereotypical or begging behaviors had emerged.
I digress.
In summary, there was no strong and immediate need for a complete rebuild of Monkey Mountain.
For now, it would be possible to add a few simple enrichment facilities, such as swings, hanging ropes, and perches.
Water pools were also good entertainment for macaques, but since they involved plumbing, it was a hassle. It would be better to wait until reconstruction.
Then there was the red fox, which left Fang Ye somewhat troubled.
In the future, when the leopard and lion exhibits are built, a "Predator Gallery" can be formed.
After delineating the area, he looked at it on the sand table; it was an uneven mountain terrain that the zoo had not made much use of. They had only built a pavilion on the mountain, using it as a resting area for visitors.
However, for Fang Ye, following the mountain terrain allowed for some creative construction.
Start with a clear, rushing stream that flows from the high rocks down to the lowlands and finally converges into a calm and open pond.
Lay out chunky rocks to make the slopes more sharply defined. As the water flows over them, it feels like it's stepping down in stages, creating the impression of miniature waterfalls.
The turbulent stream and waterfalls increase the wolves' excitement, encouraging them to be more active. When hunting in packs, wolves often drive their prey to cliffs or riverbanks to increase their chances of a successful hunt.
Moreover, the watery areas are teeming with life and lush vegetation, making them great places for play.
Place some deadwood on the stream banks and the surrounding open ground; add clumps of wild grass in the crevices of the rocks and plant some water plants like reeds around the edges of the pond for a more natural look.
Build a stone cave upstream of the stream to provide the wolf pack with a place for warmth, shelter from the rain, and rest.
Place the cave near a viewing spot, slightly tilted at the entrance, balancing the blocking of the line of sight and the display for visitors.
Wolves are highly adaptable, distributed in various ecological environments—forests, deserts, mountains, cold grasslands, coniferous forests...
Therefore, the habitat can be made a bit more complex.
For the forest, just use the trees already in this area, plant some more flowers and shrubs, and scatter fallen leaves on the ground.
For the mountains, arrange a pile of large, flat stones cascading down from the stream's staircase-like layout.
Create a dry sandy soil area to represent the desert.
Utilizing the terrain's varied elevations and the separation provided by the stream, each area is distinct in its layers yet harmoniously integrated.
This way, space utilization is maximized, the content is richer, and the wolf pack can display a wider range of natural behaviors across different settings!
Swimming in the stream, rolling in fallen leaves, surveying from atop rocks, digging and kicking up sand in the sandy area...
Everywhere is exciting.