Super Zoo

In silence, the sound of barking deer proclaimed the beginning of the release into the wild.

Cage after cage was opened, and the various animals within them caused no harm to the tourists who freed them. Some affectionate animals even used body language to express their fondness for humans.

At that moment, a large group of animals displayed a completely different demeanor than usual, as if reborn, they dashed towards the hills at the back.

More than nine hundred animals, in less than an hour, had all escaped their cages, completed the release, and returned to the wild life in the back hills.

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Cries rose from the hills, one after another, dozens of species, expressing their joy with different voices.

"A myriad of beasts gallop towards freedom!" announced a striking headline that Yangchuan City TV Station added especially for the evening's rebroadcast of the release.

The forums and social media were also discussing the release.

For most ordinary people, they would not think too deeply about professional technical issues. What they saw was the joy and excitement of the animals after leaving their cages.

This, however, was overwhelming for the experts who were always filled with concern.

It's pure folly, complete madness! The more online support there was, the more the experts felt that Suming was exploiting the safety of the animals for his own publicity.

However, they currently had no time to criticize Suming. All the experts, including Professor Chu, were immersed in the back hills, observing the life conditions of the released animals. Many paths had been cleared in the back hills, making them accessible by car, but for the most part, it was undeveloped wilderness that could only be traversed on foot.

At first, Suming was in a mood for schadenfreude, thinking that no matter what he did, they would nitpick and obsess, and they deserved to be tired out.

But after a few days, he felt his attitude had been a bit too radical.

The old experts may have questioned him, but it was not out of personal conflict, but out of a genuine concern for animal conservation. This much was evident from their 'working' attitude.

With their status and level in academia, there was no need for them to be so personally hands-on at their age. Yet these old experts, including Professor Chu, each one of them plunged into the deep mountains and forests. Some of them didn't emerge for days on end, and the occasional person who did was only there to resupply and replace equipment. As soon as they were done, they would head straight back into the mountains without a break.

To prevent getting lost, every group led by an expert carried positioning devices with them.

From the monitors, some experts stayed at a particular fixed point for several days; others traveled hundreds of miles throughout the mountains over a few days;

The farthest one even left the generally understood boundaries of Yangchuan City Zoo's "back hills" and ventured deep into the Qinling area, nearly a hundred kilometers away from the zoo in a straight line.

A week passed, and streams of data were sent back from the mountains, yet not a single expert left.

Suming had always considered himself hardworking and dedicated at work, but compared with these old experts, he suddenly realized his previous perception was rather naive. Young people, especially those with some achievements like himself, often find it easy to think that the older generation is outdated and not up with the times, far inferior to themselves, and sometimes they even secretly scorn them. But it's only when you truly engage with their work that you discover the older generation, although perhaps technically behind, have a quality in their bones that the current young generation, including himself, lacks.

"In our era, this was called a romantic revolutionary sentiment," Mr. Song said, using a term that sounded almost comical, but his tone was not joking at all. The romanticism of the older generation was not about flippant pleasures but about their firm belief in the success of their cause, even in the most difficult conditions or dire straits, and their incessant hard work towards it.

So, starting from the second week, Suming also joined the team of veteran experts.

As stakeholders, Yangchuan City Zoo and Suming were not allowed to participate in the data collection. Suming rode the helicopter every day, acting as the head of the transport squadron, delivering the best supplies to each point and team, and providing all possible convenience measures.

The data collection work after the reintroduction had lasted for an entire month before finally being completed.

"Mr. Su, we were wrong about you before," someone said.

At the summary meeting, a group of experts with weather-beaten faces nodded to Suming as a gesture of apology, and then announced the survey results of the reintroduction.

During the month-long survey, twelve experts led nine teams and observed over five hundred animals, representing more than 60% of the total number reintroduced.

Not a single case of animal death due to failure to adapt to the wild environment occurred!

The majority of the animals' living areas were concentrated within a twenty-kilometer range of the back mountain, ensuring they wouldn't encounter predators, and in cases of food scarcity, they could still receive some supplementation from the zoo. This allowed them a period to adapt.

Initially, the experts were puzzled by this. Could animals also have a 'homesickness' that caused them all to stay close to the zoo?

The conclusions drawn from later observations explained this question.

Before the reintroduction, the zoo had already done a lot of preparation work. More than a hundred dogs that had been rescued successively followed the lead of one of the earliest reintroduced wolves, acting like a 'shepherd,' guiding the other animals that came later.

Additionally, the efforts of the Lure people in the back mountain were indispensable. Living in the mountains in Iraq, the Lure people had ample experience interacting with animals, neither disturbing the animals' lives nor serving a temporary role as caretakers and protectors.

They even caught several poachers who tried to take advantage of the situation to sneak into the mountains.

"The facts have proven that Yangchuan City Zoo had made sufficient preparations before the reintroduction, and these preparations are drastically different from what we are familiar with in textbooks, holding great research value," the old professor from Agricultural Science University said.

"Mr. Su, I have a favor to ask of you," the professor continued.

After working together for a while, the initial mistrust between them had dissipated, and they had developed a mutual admiration. Suming nodded, "Please speak, I will do my best to meet your request."

"We want to compile the experiences of this reintroduction into teaching material to be popularized and promoted among students in relevant fields and zoos nationwide. However, we are at most the compilers - the real experience comes from your zoo, so we hope to get your authorization," the professor explained.

Suming was taken aback. If this were true, wouldn't he be considered an 'expert' as well?

"Of course, your professional standards were clear to everyone during the reintroduction," the professor said.

"No problem. We at Yangchuan City Zoo will cooperate 100% with whatever is needed," Suming nodded in agreement.

However, as for me being an expert... well, I might really be a 'brick expert.' The true experience of Yangchuan City Zoo is irreplicable. If we were to promote it based on that... tsk tsk, I fear it may mislead the younger generation.