I have a wildlife zoo

"Come on, Cake Cake, taste what a watermelon is like?"

Fang Ye broke off a piece of watermelon and placed it in the palm of his hand. Ice Cake extended a small tongue curiously to taste it but didn't seem too fond of it. Instead, it started nibbling on his fingers.

Ice Cake was still young, with no accumulated fur in its stomach, so it didn't send out those craving signals, and naturally, it wasn't interested in eating vegetables.

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Jiaojiao, on the other hand, really enjoyed eating the watermelon, swallowing it with its rind without much chewing required. To her, a whole watermelon was like a little appetizer.

So, Fang Ye smiled and scratched Ice Cake's chin, then went on to scratch its somewhat round little belly.

The little guy was so spoiled with good food every day that it didn't bother to eat diligently; no wonder its belly was round.

Content with the scratching, Ice Cake clung to Fang Ye's hand with its paws and refused to let go.

Seeing Fang Ye comfortable lying against the tiger, petting the little tiger while eating the sweet watermelon, the visitors were all green with envy!

"I've never seen such a carefree way to eat watermelon!"

"Ah, I also really want to pet a tiger. Since the zoo director is so close with the tiger, why not offer a tiger-petting session? I'd be willing to pay for it."

"Hmm... I wouldn't dare to touch it myself, but isn't it nice just to watch the director being affectionate with the tiger?"

"I think the director is doing the right thing. If it were strangers, the tiger might not like it. What if it attacked someone? Anyway, if I were the tiger, I definitely wouldn't like being touched by lots of strangers every day."

"Many years ago, I visited a zoo that offered a photo op with people riding on tigers' backs. But I noticed the tigers had their canine teeth pulled out, and their claws trimmed; that's how the park dared to let people touch them."

Upon hearing this, some visitors fell silent: "Such attractions shouldn't exist anymore, right?"

"They shouldn't."

"Let's just 'cloud pat' the tiger with our eyes!"

Actually, when it came to offering a paid tiger-petting attraction, staff members with a sharp business acumen did bring it up with Fang Ye shortly after they were hired.

However, Fang Ye firmly refused. Without needing to explain much, anyone who spent some time in the zoo and observed the way people and animals interacted here would naturally understand why.

Funds were tight at first, but the help from city policies and funding had already solved that problem. If they wanted to make money, there were other channels like souvenir shops and refreshment stalls. With systematic assistance in building the exhibits, the zoo was not short of money and didn't need to earn it that way anymore.

"Click, click!"

Zhuang Xiaobai was in high spirits, taking several shots of Fang Ye, who was leaning against the tiger, enjoying the melon, and smiling blissfully.

What a fruitful visit it had been today, to witness such a spectacular scene.

He felt he could base a painting on this photo, perhaps titled "Eating Watermelon." However, the thought of a tiger eating watermelon seemed to defy common sense, which had him befuddled. Maybe the painting itself was an explanation of sorts?

After lingering reluctantly at the tiger exhibit for half the day until the tiger went into the woods to rest, he finally left.

It was just in time for mealtime, so he could go and have lunch.

Arriving on the main pathway of the visitation route, about a dozen visitors were waiting at a location resembling a bus stop.

A tour vehicle was slowly approaching from a distance!

It wasn't just any tour bus, but rather a cute, chubby one whose front was shaped like a cartoon tiger's head, complete with teeth showing as if the tiger was adorably roaring.

The big eyes of the tiger were the windows of the bus, and the body was painted with tiger stripes, an orange hue with black stripes running along its body, and its tail was painted onto the rear end of the bus.

The tour bus was a reward from the last mission. Besides the tiger, there was also a reddish-brown red panda bus, sticking out its little tongue, which was very popular with the children!

Of course, it wasn't just the cartoonish paint and shape that were adorable. Both buses were also new energy, purely electric vehicles, awakening visitors' environmental consciousness with every detail.

After such a trip around the zoo, visitors' environmental awareness would definitely receive a +100 boost.

The two tour buses slowly meandered through the park, one after the other, giving tired visitors a place to sit or providing shelter from the rain and a quick exit from the park when necessary.

The tour bus couldn't pass through the bamboo forest where the red panda exhibit was located, so it would stop at the entrance, hardly a few minutes' walk into the exhibit.

The buses also specially accommodated the needs of disabled visitors in wheelchairs, with a metal plate fitted beside the middle door. When needed, the plate could be lowered and secured to provide a bridge for wheelchairs to board.

...

After playing with Jiaojiao at the tiger exhibit, Fang Ye went to the cafeteria for a meal.

He didn't take the usual nap afterwards but casually flipped through a book in his office to pass the time, as he had something to take care of at noon.

He had received a message in the morning from the staff at Boulders Safari, saying that a vehicle carrying lions had almost arrived in Linhai upon the freeway. Another message had come through, indicating that they should arrive around 1 p.m.

Unlike reptiles like snakes, which could be simply packed and sent here like express parcels, transporting lions required time for negotiation and preparation. Additionally, it had been raining in Linhai for the past few days, delaying the lions' shipping compared to the snakes.

Two lions had been purchased from Boulders Safari and two more from other zoos, including both males and females.

The remaining two lions were also expected to arrive in the next few days, along with other animals like bharals, Asian black bears, ring-tailed lemurs, and macaques. Once the new exhibition areas were constructed and the quarantine and immunization period was concluded, they would all be ready to move in.

The new macaque exhibition area spanned two thousand square meters, with mountains and water. Of course, it would be wasteful to house only a dozen macaques, so a new group of monkeys would be introduced.

Black Claws' days of living the good life were likely numbered. Having reigned supreme in the small realm of Linhai Zoo without much prowess, he wouldn't be able to compete with the incoming new macaques. It was uncertain whether Black Claws could cope with the demotion.

But that's life, with its ups and downs, downs...

Fang Ye was quite interested in the lions!

He wondered what the temperaments of the newly arrived lions might be like, whether they'd be fierce troublemakers, but he was always ready with his "Magic Slippers."

The ringtone of his phone went off. Fang Ye glanced at the number; it was a staff member from Boulders Safari. He answered the call, "Hello, good day."

"Director Fang, we've almost arrived, should be there in about 20 minutes!"

"All right, we'll get ready to receive them!"

Fang Ye grew excited, and phoned the muscular man, Meng Shi, "Hey, Meng Shi?"

"Director, what's up?"

"We've got lions arriving soon, come help move a lion!"

"Oh, okay!"

With that call, he summoned five or six animal keepers to come over and assist.