I have a wildlife zoo

On one side were the island's abundant resources; on the other, its poor inhabitants—the contradiction between them grew increasingly severe.

Mined resources such as gold, nickel, cobalt, titanium, and sapphires on Madagascar Island were once abundant, accounting for one-third of the world market supply, but they were all in the hands of foreign conglomerates.

ExxonMobil Corporation explored the deep-sea oil here, high-end guitar manufacturers used local ebony to make instruments, and the local government even considered renting farmland to Korea and selling water resources to Saudi Arabia…

Thus, for a livelihood, islanders would smuggle endangered animals out of the country and fell precious trees. Out of 4.5 million hectares of protected areas, 10,000 hectares of timber was stolen.

However, no matter how hard they toiled in mining and logging, they would only receive a few dollars in compensation.

Due to poaching and forest destruction, red ruffed lemurs, Masoala fork-marked lemurs, fat-tailed dwarf lemurs, and aye-ayes were rapidly disappearing from the rainforests of Madagascar. Out of the world's 25 most endangered primates, lemurs took up five spots.

An endangered ring-tailed lemur could be sold locally for just 50 dollars.

There are now only 2,000 ring-tailed lemurs left in the wild, a decline of 95% since 2000, which is even less populous than their captive counterparts in zoos worldwide—a tragic circumstance indeed.

"Eh!"

Yan Ganghui shook his head, unable to bear looking at the photo of the ring-tailed lemur being cooked in a pot.

Grieving the fate of lemurs and other endangered species on the island, but feeling helpless!

He used to think the islanders were backward and ignorant, not knowing how to protect their beautiful homeland.

But after reading the exhibit's introduction, he saw how impoverished the residents were, struggling to eat and clothe themselves. Their only concern was how to survive the next day.

With survival at stake, how could the islanders be expected to protect the environment?

The key point was, despite the environmental sacrifices, development had not taken off, and the benefits of selling resources had all been siphoned off by profiteers. Without some change, the environment of Madagascar Island would only get worse, and its residents would remain impoverished, forever exploited.

Not knowing what to say.

Feeling somewhat relieved in his heart, thankfully, his homeland had now unlocked more options.

"Huh, what are you looking at?" Su Hui came over and saw the exhibit's photo of lemurs being stewed in a large pot, her brows furrowed in disgust, "That's horrible, what the hell is that?"

"Hey, don't look at it," he said.

Feeling that it was rare for Yan Ganghui to take a break and not wanting his girlfriend's mood to be affected, he pushed her away: "Let me just tell you about it, essentially, lemurs are now very endangered, and there are even fewer of them in the wild than in zoos."

"Oh, that's terrible," she replied.

Su Hui was also taken aback. Although she rarely visited zoos, she always saw representation of ring-tailed lemurs there and thought they were common animals.

After spending some more time in the indoor pavilion, admiring the playful antics of the ring-tailed lemurs, at 9 o'clock, the animal keeper Yang, dressed in a blue uniform, appeared.

Seeing this, Yan Ganghui tugged at his girlfriend and the two quickly followed behind!

By then, the ring-tailed lemur exhibit area was already bustling with tourists, all amazed at the island scenery and the sprite-like ring-tailed lemurs, "clicking" away with their cameras while expressing their admiration.

"Wow, so beautiful!"

"The ring-tailed lemurs are so cute!"

A little girl stared longingly at the island landscape, her eyes filled with desire, and turned to her father, saying, "Daddy, can we go on the island to play? I want to touch the little monkeys!"

Baba looked troubled. If it had been any other animal, he could have lied and said the little animals were fierce and couldn't be touched or they would scratch people, but his daughter had already petted ring-tailed lemurs on a previous visit to the zoo!

He had also heard an animal keeper explain their habits, saying they were gentle by nature and that some interaction was possible.

But looking at Lemur Island, it seemed there was no way to get there.

"Baba, I want to play on the island…" the little girl whined, tugging at her father's hand.

Just then, Baba saw the animal keeper appear and his eyes lit up. He hurried over to ask.

Yang arrived at the "harbor dock" next to the bamboo raft and surveyed the surrounding tourists.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was his first time handling this task and he felt somewhat inexperienced. He used his key to unlock the raft, cleared his throat, and then his voice, magnified by the headset, broadcasted, "Is there anyone who wants to come to the island? Please, come this way!"

There was no need to ask further; the nearby tourists heard and immediately became excited, rushing over.

Yan Ganghui and Su Hui got the edge, making it to the very front of the line. The girl who had just thrown a tantrum about going to the island to touch the monkeys, along with her father who intended to inquire, also became the first group of visitors.

"Eh, that's enough! A dozen or so people is plenty for one trip, the rest can wait for the next!"

The other tourists quickly lined up there.

"No need to form such a long line; there are only limited spots. If you want to see the lemurs up close, you can also visit the indoor pavilion."

Yang then pointed to a large sign that had been erected behind him, "Before going to the island, I suggest everyone take a look at this notice board!"

The notice board had pictures of hands holding candy, lit cigarette butts, people yelling loudly at the monkeys, and a person raising a foot as if to step on a monkey's tail, each picture marked with a conspicuous red cross!

Obviously, these were the things not to do.

No smoking, no feeding the animals, no shouting or scaring the animals, and no harming them in any way.

Yang led everyone onto the bamboo raft and, like a ferryman, started paddling. The tourists sat on the swaying raft, watching the island get closer and becoming more excited as if on an adventure.

The little girl laughed "gigglingly" with joy, making ripples in the water with her hand.

Yang took the opportunity to remind the tourists about the island's rules, saying with a smile, "Don't stray too far from me, and I hope you all seriously abide by the rules and have fun!"

Someone asked, "How long can we stay on the island?"

"About ten minutes or so!"

In about an hour, roughly 50 tourists could visit the island, which meant 100 people in two hours a day.

Even though ring-tailed lemurs were gentle and had been vaccinated and checked, close contact still carried risks, so it was necessary to control access. It also prevented too many people from being present at once, making it difficult to watch for and stop rule violations.

Yan Ganghui stared at an alluaudia close by. Only when he got closer did he see clearly that it wasn't the bark that was green, but a layer of vibrant green leaves, while the main stem was grey-white, covered in sharp, nail-like spines that looked both sharp and hard.

He exclaimed in surprise, "It looks like a cactus, and it really does have thorns!"

"Such sharp spines, won't the ring-tailed lemurs get hurt by them?"

Hearing his question, Yang laughed and explained, "This plant is called alluaudia! Its leaves are one of the ring-tailed lemur's main foods in the wild, so of course they won't hurt them."

As he said this, a ring-tailed lemur leapt onto a nearby alluaudia, standing up high and looking at the people, its gaze filled with curiosity as it cried out softly with a "woo".