Fang Ye continued to consider other animals to introduce.
Since there were red pandas, raccoons could also be introduced. These little guys are not only fun to look at, but also have interesting behaviors, like washing their food by the water. This could help visitors better distinguish between red pandas and raccoons.
Next would be the Predator Gallery!
Lions, leopards, bears, these fierce beasts definitely needed to be included.
Primate Paradise currently only houses macaques, but Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys, ring-tailed lemurs, chimpanzees...
The reptile house, crocodiles, snakes...
But it seemed like the green leaf coins were a bit short.
After completing the tropical rainforest aviary and the basic structures, there would only be over 400k green leaf coins left. If calculated at 3000 square meters and 60-80k per exhibition area, there could only be about 5 or 6 large exhibition areas built, or a few large ones could be converted into a combination of medium and small ones.
Moreover, with the zoo's expansion, it was not possible to only construct exhibition areas; new rest service areas, roads, and greening also had to be considered!
The macaque exhibition area was still a pit style, which was not conducive to conservation education as visitor numbers increased, and would definitely need to be rebuilt. Along with the red fox mixed-breeding zone, these two areas could already be settled.
Perhaps there would be one more beast in the Predator Gallery, and a crocodile pool in the reptile area, then see what else could be built with the remaining green leaf coins.
So Fang Ye began designing the mixed-breeding area first!
The location would be behind the tropical rainforest aviary, to the left of the visiting circuit, opposite the Predator Gallery.
On the left was a small hill, which would be home to the red foxes! To avoid conflict with the sika deer coming over, the vegetation on the hill would be relatively sparse, but still present, as it needed to provide cover for the red foxes.
Climbing is their forte, and for that reason, a rock mountain is necessary here, which also looks beautiful as a backdrop. A series of unevenly stacked, massive grayish-brown rocks allowed the bharals to climb upwards, stepping into the crevices and protrusions between the stones.
The rock mountain overall forms a rectangular and spacious wall, the tallest part reaching 15 meters, then sectioned into roughly several layers—front, back, top, and bottom—resembling the Tower of Hanoi, where each layer has platforms for resting. The higher up, the more the slope inclines and the narrower the footholds become.
The last layer almost forms a 70-degree angle with two or three-meter-wide fissures. The bharals navigating across the facade and leaping majestically will surely elicit gasps of admiration from the visitors.
Placing a small, 300-square-meter lake in the center of the enclosure offers the animals a chance to meet at the lakeside. The red fox, sika deer, and bharal drinking water in different directions and observing each other creates a picturesque scene.
Distributing a few shelters around, the shelters can offer protection to the animals that are on display outdoors for extended periods. During rain, windstorms, or high temperatures, the animals can rest inside, and grass feed, hung under the shelter, is less likely to get wet and moldy.
The hard ground covered with crushed egg stones can serve as a place for the sika deer to wear down their hooves, which the bharals already manage on the stone wall.
On the visitor side, a section uses a dry moat as a barrier. Warning bands made of fallen logs and stones are visible from afar on steep slopes to prevent animals from running fast and charging in.
Gentle slopes on the side allow animals to leave the enclosure. As grazers, they instinctively maintain an open view and don't like to go down into sunken terrains, so there's no need to worry about them heading down.
The bottom is paved with crushed stones. If kept clean of weeds, the animals won't be interested in staying down there.
For the viewing point above the moat, just adding some shrubs and a fence will suffice. The middle viewpoint, facing the lake and the magnificent rock wall behind, offers the most expansive view, unobstructed sightlines to see the animals drinking at the lakeside and the bharals leaping on the rock face.
The visitor's walkway merges with the faux-nature wall and moat barrier, eliminating the need for glass walls.
Placing some informational displays along the way to introduce these animals completes the mixed-species exhibit.
The raccoon exhibition area is a relatively simple one; a space of one to two hundred square meters is quite sufficient. The smaller size of the area for these small animals allows visitors to observe them more closely.
Inside, plant some shrubs, a few small trees, and set up a few perches. Raccoons are also skilled climbers, nesting in trees and preferring habitats with tree-dense and water-near hollows to avoid open spaces and trees that are hard to climb, so they can escape to the trees when in danger.
Most importantly, there should be a ten-square-meter pond to give raccoons the chance to display their fascinating behavior of washing food.