The animal keeper entered the activity area and placed boxes in all sorts of places!
So were hidden high up in the branches, so were nestled in haystacks, so buried in the bushes.
So boxes required using rain boots to dig a couple of tis in the ground, burying them in the dirt, and then covering them with nearby fallen leaves, while others were tucked into the crevices of bricks and stones.
Fang Ye smiled and said, "Does anyone know why we do this?"
Those who often watch Fang Ye's live streams or visit the zoo are familiar with food enrichnt.
They imdiately answered, "Because it simulates animals' natural foraging behaviors in the wild! Animals spend a lot of ti eating every day when they're in the wild. Without the opportunity to forage in the zoo, they'd get bored with nothing to do!"
"It can exercise various abilities of animals, such as their sense of sll and their paws."
Fang Ye said, "Exactly, animals are in an excited and happy state of mind while foraging, similar to how we humans feel when playing gas and spending money. Spending money in the ga is the most thrilling part.
Before spending money, you're thinking, 'After this spending spree, how many diamonds will I recharge, what cards will I be able to draw, show off in the guild, and then people will praise 'Young Master Carefree' for their awesoness, and I can put together a fierce team for the arena. At the mont of drawing a card, the excitent is overwhelming when the colorful light shines."
"But once you've spent the money and the excitent is gone, doesn't it all feel bland and even start to feel regretful, thinking that it would have been better to spend the money elsewhere, like going for hotpot with friends."
"Wuwuwu, that hits hard."
"So real! I always regret it after spending money."
"Can the zookeeper please dismantle the monitor in my house."
Fang Ye: "For the animals, the happiness begins to fade once they eat the food. Enrichnt prolongs their joy, providing them with positive welfare.
Foxes are very intelligent animals. If the hiding is too simple, they find it too quickly, and the effect of enrichnt diminishes.
Therefore, our job as animal keepers in hiding their food is also a process of matching wits with them."
Everyone can observe how keepers brush here and there, against trees and rocks, rubbing the water that has defrosted and carries the scent of the mice in all sorts of places.
And when it cos to burying mice, not every hole contains one; so are actually empty.
Also, when we scuff our feet on the ground, turning over leaves, we create traces of disturbance, using various false clues and feints to baffle them.
If the foxes want to find the mice more accurately, they need to use their sense of sll better, unless they're willing to waste their energy for nothing.
Wild animals are very conservative with their energy."
The viewers were enlightened: "Wow! This food enrichnt is so sophisticated."
"Listening to the zookeeper's explanation feels like watching a sports ga!"
"Outsiders enjoy the spectacle; insiders appreciate the technique. Without the zookeeper's explanation, I'd never realize the cunning tricks behind these seemingly ordinary actions."
"It's as if I can see the foxes cursing the crafty keepers while searching for food later on! /laugh cry"
"With such enrichnt and environnt, animals can certainly maintain more of their natural instincts!"
"I never knew feeding animals involved so many considerations."
After the keepers finished their work and left the activity area, several foxes couldn't wait to rush into it!
Xiaoqiao had not been lured by the food and stayed in the activity area all along. Though she pretended to be indifferent, she actually kept an eye on the keeper's movents the whole ti.
When the keeper looked in her direction, she quickly turned her head away, pretending nothing happened.
She probably thought she had found a bug and was very proud of herself!
Her mouth curved into a smile, "I am truly the smartest fox."
Then she hopped off the stone and hurried over to a clump of bushes, brushed the leaves aside with her paws, and joyfully started digging.
This soft soil, with traces of being recently disturbed, was a sure sign that the keeper had just hidden sothing delicious beneath!
Two paws, as if fitted with tiny motors, furiously dug without stopping, flinging soil to the side.
However, as it kept digging, sothing didn't feel right.
It couldn't have been buried that deep – why hadn't it found anything after digging for so long?
Its brows furrowed, sniffing carefully at the air.
Staring blankly at the hole it had made, its eyes gradually narrowed, emanating an intense aura.
Panting heavily, it opened its mouth to reveal sharp canines, grinding its teeth in agitation.
Curse it, I've been tricked! Humans are all cunning big liars!
Sugar Pack followed the trail, sniffing the scent along its path, then suddenly noticed the tracks stopped in front of a rock.
It cocked its head looking at the rock, then lowered its gaze to the fallen leaves, seemingly puzzled by the clues on the leaves.
Huh, did the keeper double back here? Which way did they go?
Netizens were watching the foxes search for food with great interest, "Haha, Xiaoqiao got fooled, so angry!"
"Is there a bet on which one will find the food first?"
"Tilting its head is so cute!"
Fang Ye said, "Animals have a keen perception of their environnt! They can gather a lot of information just from the scent of a pile of feces and know which direction an animal went from the marks on the grass leaves.
Just as ducks are first to know when the spring river warms or cicadas sense the autumn wind before it stirs, the changes of seasons are felt by animals even before humans notice them.
In a static environnt, animals lose this acute environntal awareness, beco indifferent to changes, and may even develop fear. Dostic cats can even get startled upon seeing a mouse.
All this enrichnt aims to encourage animals to explore and to master; the animals then grow curious and confident in navigating their environnt, exhibiting an active and lively state.
Youyou was a very timid fox from the start, scared to death of people, to the point of playing possum. Now, it has gotten a lot braver."
"Oh! When I visited the zoo last ti, I greeted Youyou, and it even barked back at ."
"That's amazing!"
"Mystery Bro" rewarded with a plane!
Young Master Carefree rewarded with a plane!
"Brewster" rewarded with 20 dumplings!
The prince was very sensitive when it ca to food.
Sniffing around, it quickly found a small box hidden in the bushes and dug it out.
Bending down, it peeked around stealthily, took the white mouse out from the box, and hid it again in the soil in a corner.
While it hid its food, Youyou was lurking behind a tree trunk, popping its head out to sneak a peek with a sly expression, as if snickering to itself.
Hehe, I've noted this location! I'll dig it up later!
While Sugar Pack carefully sniffed around the enclosure searching for food, it suddenly looked up and spotted a familiar figure behind the glass curtain wall.
Huh, isn't that the zoo director?
Instantly excited, it rushed to the glass, grinning and calling out "Ying Ying"!
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