We should have a reasonable and proper diet, and so should animals. A well-managed zoo like Beijing Zoo will formulate a scientific feed ratio and feeding method according to the types of animals to meet the daily needs of animals, and the breeder will feed the animals once or twice a day, just like people eat three meals a day. The source, treatment and storage of feed in zoos are also regulated. All these ensure the health of animals.
Primates are one of the worst-hit areas in zoos. Our primate relatives used to eat mainly fruits, leaves, flowers, buds and seeds, and some species also ingested a small amount of animal protein. Like the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey in this accident, it belongs to the genus snub-nosed monkey and belongs to the langur family of the subfamily colobus. At first, it mainly ate buds, fruits, seeds, lichens, bark, flowers and so on. These vegetarian diets make wild golden monkeys need more time to eat every day. Zoos usually prepare fruits, vegetables and other foods for primates, but they usually feed them only once in the morning. But monkeys are still used to eating all day and eating as much as possible when there is food. Tourists usually feed us junk food such as biscuits with attractive fragrance or brightly colored fruits, which we love to eat, and our primate relatives can't resist the temptation and will eat by mistake.
Similarly, the foraging areas of herbivores, such as zebras, alpacas and deer, which are used to eating all day, are also the hardest hit areas for foraging. These ruminants and herbivores have developed digestive tract, which is beneficial to digest fiber. Therefore, these animals eat and digest slowly. Zoos generally provide high-quality hay as the main feed for these animals. On weekends, tourists can often be seen carrying a big bag of fruits, carrots, lettuce, grains and other foods to feed these herbivores. For these foods, herbivores will eat too fast and have indigestion, and too much protein will lead to flatulence in the digestive tract.
Parrots are the most frequently fed birds in zoos. The big purple-breasted parrots, pink cockatoos and small cockatoos on the east side of the parrot hall of Beijing Zoo always stand by the barbed wire and wait for the tourists to feed them. Most of the foods that tourists feed these animals are biscuits and sunflower seeds, which are high in fat, making animals that lack enough exercise in cages consume too much energy and lead to obesity. At the same time, sunflower seeds or other nuts have high phosphorus content and low calcium content, and their excessive energy makes birds lack calcium intake, which will lead to calcium deficiency over time.
Therefore, on the one hand, the food that tourists feed may not be suitable for these animals, and some may even be toxic to them. For example, anteaters are sensitive to the toxicity of vitamin A, which will interfere with the metabolism of vitamin K.
On the other hand, even the food that animals can eat will make these animals consume too much energy or overeat, leading to various gastrointestinal diseases, nutritional imbalance and even death. Many zoos report that animals will have different degrees of anorexia on the second day after the festival because tourists feed them too much.
The most terrible thing is some packaging and sundries in feeding, such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic ropes, wrapping paper and so on. Often eating animals by mistake makes them sick or lead to death.
In addition, when some tourists feed animals, they may also transmit their infectious diseases to animals, resulting in animal death.
I remember a distant event in the summer of 1996. A polar bear died in Beijing Zoo, and a wire was found in the belly of the polar bear, which was specially for tourists. In June 5438+10, a spotted hyena in Shanghai Zoo was found to have lost appetite. After gastroscopy, it was found that there were foreign bodies such as plastic bags in the stomach. After treatment, it spit out a bag of food preservatives. On April 2 1 day, an ostrich was choked to death by packaged bread fed by tourists in Zhongshan Park, Shantou ... There are many such cases.
If you want to hurt me, please feed me.