I have a wildlife zoo

As he walked towards the rescue center, Fang Ye said, "Spring and summer are the breeding seasons for birds, and many fledglings leave their nests during this time. Some fall out of curiosity about the outside world and accidentally drop down, or they are blown out of their nests by weather conditions, like strong winds. There are all sorts of reasons for them to end up on the ground."

After being spotted by kind-hearted citizens, they call our rescue center.

Not all fallen chicks need to be brought back for rescue!

Some are already fully feathered and are just getting acquainted with their wings, practicing their flying skills. Their parents are actually right beside them all along, so it’s fine to leave these alone.

If we can find the nest of those who have fallen out, we’ll return the fledglings to it.

Only the injured fledglings or those where no parent bird or nest can be found nearby are the cases we take in."

Arriving at an outdoor aviary, it was outfitted with perches and ropes.

Several fluffy little owlets were resting on the perches or ropes!

At first glance, there seemed to be a dozen or so.

As they saw someone approaching, they immediately fixed their round, glistening eyes on them.

Their puffy feathers made them look just like little fuzzy kiwis, extremely adorable.

"So cute!"

"Wow, Director, you’ve rescued so many owls!"

"The babies lined up on the rope are so cute!"

Fang Ye said, "It was manageable before, but it’s been particularly busy lately. Every day there are little owls delivered to us, on average about two or three a day. Now we have more than forty!"

The owlet species that have been brought in are mainly the collared scops owl and the collared owlet.

Every received owlet undergoes a veterinary examination and quarantine observation.

For the smaller owlets, we keep them in a brooding room and create nest-like shelters for them, sort of like an owl nursery.

These fledglings, who already have fuller feathers and are at the age to leave the nest and learn to fly, are gathered together in this relatively spacious aviary, which serves like an owl elementary school.

In owl elementary school, these little owls interact with their own kind, learn to communicate with each other, and can adapt to their owl identities, exhibiting the behaviors an owl should display.

How to be an owl is something we can’t teach! They have to learn from each other.

Otherwise, if raised alone and always in contact with our staff, they might gradually come to see humans as their companions, become dependent, and even grow up to see humans as potential mates. That would be problematic, as it could lead to them being unable to be released back into the wild."

There’s a good number of these small owls, like the collared scops owl and the collared owlet, in Linhai, and they can survive in the city as well.

They roost on large trees at night, without disturbing humans.

All the owls raised in this aviary are collared scops owls.

Fang Ye described the aviary environment, "Besides the wooden perches, we have these rope perches. The swaying ropes are similar to the rocking tree branches and are good for the little owls to exercise their leg strength and balancing ability when taking off and landing.

And it’s not just about exercising alone; when one little owl moves, all the companions on the same rope get a workout too.

Plus, we don’t waste the bamboo leaves left over from the pandas’ meals, as we put them in the perches or on the cage walls. That way, they have to make more turns in flight, which provides better training."

Netizens exclaimed, "Awesome!"

"Your zoo is really outstanding, Director!"

Approaching a perch,

there were three collared scops owlets.

Seeing Fang Ye come over, their gaze turned vigilant in an instant.

The oldest one, also the largest, unhesitatingly stood in front as a shield.

It lowered its body, took up a threatening posture, and slowly began to puff up.

From a clump of steel wool, it turned into a brown little feather duster!

Black round eyes stared at him, blinking constantly.

The two little collared scops owlets hid behind their brother, tucking their bodies to the left and the right, only their two heads poking out.

One stood erect, while the other’s body leaned, like a protruding tree branch, motionless, exuding a sense of adorable silliness.

Netizens were all amused by their comical appearance!

"Hahaha, they look so silly!"

"Such innocent eyes!"

"The eldest is doing great, protecting the second and third!"

"Blinking, the owl is cursing at us!"

The eldest in front, seeing Fang Ye still there, tilted its head to size him up, then stretched its neck forward and started clicking its beak, "tap tap."

Fang Ye laughed, "This is a good sign, it shows they have the proper wariness towards humans."

"Watching an owl scold people, I can’t help but think of Chocolate!"

"I remember Chocolate tried to be released once and was unsuccessful; hung around your zoo, freeloading!"

"Right, Fang Ye, how’s Chocolate doing now?"

Fang Ye said, "Later, we conducted some wildlife training for Chocolate, reduced his dependency on humans, and I think he was released after the National Day."

"Wuwuwu, my Chocolate!"

A netizen expressed regret, "If Chocolate loves freeloading, why not keep him and take care of him yourself?"

Fang Ye explained, "Well, the Eurasian eagle-owl is indeed a very handsome bird.

However, rescuing animals is for the sake of releasing them. If they are healthy and capable of hunting on their own, why should we keep them?

That would be like someone coming to the hospital for a cold and being locked up indefinitely; it doesn’t make sense. If our zoo started keeping rescued animals indiscriminately, how would that be different from poaching?"

Strolling slowly inside the cage, he approached a collared scops owlet.

The little guy was still sleeping with his eyes closed, not noticing Fang Ye’s presence.

Fang Ye: "This one is way too under-alert, hey, wake up!"

He softly snapped his fingers, and the collared scops owlet woke up with a start from its sleep!

Opening its eyes and finding a person in front of it, it got so frightened that its head started to spin, shaking and gyrating.

"Hahaha!"

"I’m dying of laughter!"

Fang Ye said, "These little owls are still practicing flying at the moment, but in the next phase, they’ll need some special training. We’ll scare them a bit to teach them that they must hide during the day and not stay out in the open, or else they might become prey for some diurnal birds of prey."

Netizens asked curiously, "Fang Ye, how are owls considered graduates? Do they need to take a test? Do they get a diploma?"

"Giving out diplomas is fine, but once graduated, are they ready to deliver mail to Hogwarts?"

"Can I have an owl deliver me an acceptance letter from Hogwarts?" Discover hidden stories at NovelBin.Côm

The netizens joked, and the topic quickly veered off course.

Fang Ye said, "No exam is needed. As long as they have the ability to survive in the wild and pass our evaluation, they can graduate!

That includes being physically healthy, mentally healthy, having good flying prowess, and the ability to hunt on their own."