(CFP file photo)
After the news that Nanjing Hongshan Forest Park suffered a revenue loss of 30 million yuan in 2020 from COVID-19 went viral on Chinese social media, the zoological park’s hotline has been flooded with calls by people who wanted to adopt an animal online, said the park’s director Shen Zhijun on January 28.
“We had to build more WeChat groups to facilitate the adoption. People are really willing to help,” said Shen.
On social media, many people have forwarded the information of sponsorship for individuals, families, schools, and organizations, from 50 yuan to 50,000 yuan per year. Almost all of the zoo's animals, small or large, can be adopted online, such as pandas, lemurs, tigers, leopards, giraffes, koalas and elephants.
After the COVID-19 outbreak forced the park to close in late January last year, Shen’s team has taken active measures to boost its digital presence. The park livestreamed 103 episodes of animal science programs and attracted over 30 million online views.
Facing a severe financial impact from the pandemic, the park is still committed to offering these video courses free. "As one of the country's few non-for-profit zoos, we do not run animal performance to entertain visitors, and we protect the animals with a respect for life, a principle we will not give up," said Shen.
The popular park has also been a wildlife sanctuary and rescue centre for both the city and Jiangsu Province, and it operates a hotline dedicated to this endeavor. Shen said the park took in more than 2,000 wild animals despite the pandemic in last year, and this included both homeless animals in the city and smuggled animals seized by Customs and public security.
The park has always tried the best to rescue the injured wildlife and has set up a fund-raising program to support the effort. Local animals rescued will be released to the wild after treatment, and the park even runs a training centre to help owls re-adjust to their natural habitat, according to Shen.
Usually the expenditure for the wildlife rescue and releasing animals back into the wild can be covered by the revenue, which however dropped significantly in 2020 due to the pandemic, said Shen.
A woman surnamed Zhang said she has adopted a baby giraffe and also shared the zoo’s information for fund-raising in the WeChat groups.
"It’s probably the best education for my children to see the animals live freely in the zoo and it has brought so much fun to everyone,” said the woman.
