It turns out that because of this, the organizers are under great pressure but insist on not adding more sessions. Shanghai parents are scrambling for this spot recently.
At 7:20 p.m., the two gates outside the beast area opened one after another, and several buses slowly drove in under the cover of darkness.
Even with the lights on, many tourists still had trouble noticing the "night elves" lurking nearby. It was not until the experienced tour guide pointed out the direction with a flashlight that they suddenly discovered that Siberian tigers, African lions, cheetahs, wolves and other beasts had come to the side of the car! Through the tiny feeding holes on the side of the car, their panting and body odor were clearly audible.
This is the "Night Exploration of Wild Animals" activity launched by Shanghai Wild Animal Park in recent years, which will be held from July 1 to October 7 this year. The animals that come out at night and at dawn and dusk are at their most energetic time of the day, replacing the animals that "open for business" during the day and becoming the protagonists.
Since the 1990s, a number of parks in Shanghai have launched night tours, which mainly focus on natural science tours. Amidst the applause, doubts about the park's night tours have never stopped.
Are night tours a tourist project disguised as a natural science education program? With a large number of tourists pouring in during the park's rest period, can we strike a balance between natural science education and environmental protection?
How to grasp the scale of night tour activities is a question that Shanghai, which is building a "city of a thousand parks", needs to think about.
Through the car window, the Siberian tiger is only two or three meters away. Photo by Chen Xihan
"Mom, where is the tiger?" "Where is the wolf?" "I shook the carrot several times, but the bear wasn't interested!" Many children who were in the same car with the Liberation Daily and Shangguan News reporter to participate in the "Night Exploration into the Wild Animal Area" event warm-up asked questions from time to time.
Visitors are eager to see the animals and interact with them, so the park should be anxious, but Yu Jinhua, deputy manager of the animal management department of Shanghai Wild Animal Park, is very calm: "In the natural environment, it is difficult to see the animals clearly at night, let alone interact with them. Only by fully understanding and respecting the laws of nature can we discover the fun of night tours."
Yu Jinhua said that he likes to face the lake when it is getting dark. The large number of birds returning to their nests creates a strong visual and auditory impact, like a symphony. "The night tour is not about pointing a few strong lights at the animal exhibition area, but letting nature take its course and allowing people to welcome and adapt to the darkness together with the animals active at night in a way that minimizes interference."
Wang Ximin, director of the Science and Technology Department of Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, agrees with this "night tour view". He believes that the reason why night tours are fascinating is, on the one hand, because they are novel. According to the work and rest schedule of most people, it is difficult to experience the wildness of nature at night; on the other hand, because more senses are mobilized than during the day, after the visual experience is weakened, the hearing and smell experience become stronger. Using ears to search for cicadas, using noses to feel the fragrance of purple jalapa and the odor of stink bug secretions, and using fingers to touch the hard body surface of beetles, the experience is richer. "The premise is to treat nature with awe and respect, otherwise the effect of night tours will be greatly reduced due to uncivilized behavior."
During the "Chenshan Wonderful Night" summer camp, children looked for frogs resting on the Victoria amazonica. Photo provided by Chenshan Botanical Garden
On the evening of June 28, the Shanghai Zoo launched the first "Animal Wonderful Night" event of the year. More than 20 groups of parent-child families traveled along the designated route under the leadership of their team leaders.
"The exhibition areas where animals that come out at night and move around at dawn and dusk are located will be used as visiting and explaining points. Some primates and most herbivores need to rest, so we won't disturb them." Wu Tong from the Science and Publicity Department of Shanghai Zoo said that in addition to the limited scope of activities, the number of people and equipment for each activity must also be strictly controlled: the number of people must be controlled within 40 to 50 people; each person must carry an interpreter issued by the zoo, so that everyone can hear the explanation through headphones without raising their voices; tourists are not allowed to use photography equipment with strong flash functions; only the tour guide can carry high-brightness professional lamps, which can be directly illuminated to the observed objects for a short period of time, provided that they will not affect the creatures. "These rules have not changed much compared to when 'Animal Wonderful Night' was first launched in 1991. The purpose is to take into account both natural science education and the laws of nature's work and rest."
The nighttime “Water Exploration” activities launched by Shanghai Wild Animal Park in recent years are also for the same purpose.
"With too many rules, some tourists may not follow them, and may even be unhappy and complain about our inadequate service." Yu Jinhua said that now, tourists are sitting on boats and animals that are active at night are on the shore, so they can keep a safe distance and avoid uncivilized behavior such as knocking on the glass and railings of the animal exhibition area to attract the animals' attention. As for the problem of bringing one's own lights to shine on animals, the "Water Exploration" animal exhibition area has set up relatively "gentle" lights, and some lights even simulate the cool moonlight effect. Tourists do not need to bring lights to have a good experience, and with the reminders of the tour guides, they will not shout or litter.
Under the dim light, the rhino takes a leisurely walk. Photo by Chen Xihan
Over the years, although the park has tried every means to increase the number of night tours and places without reducing the quality of the activities, it has been unable to change the situation where the places are "sold out" in seconds after registration is opened.
The Shanghai Zoo's "Animal Wonderful Night" event this year will last from June 28 to the end of August, with three to four events scheduled every Friday to Sunday depending on the situation. Currently, the total number of events planned for the entire summer vacation is about 31. Wu Tong told reporters that reservations for each weekend event will be accepted at 15:00 on the previous Friday, and they are almost always full within a few minutes of opening.
At night in the native animal exhibition area, the wild hog uses its mouth and feet to dig for food. Provided by Shanghai Zoo
Considering that the number of places is too high, the night tour activities of Shanghai Botanical Garden and Shanghai Binjiang Forest Park have adopted a phased registration method to give parents and children who missed one or two registrations a little hope. Guo Jiangli, a natural science expert at Shanghai Botanical Garden, said that the "Secret Visit to Night Elves" of Shanghai Botanical Garden will be launched next weekend, and the time to grab the place is generally every Monday night. The "Little Insect Observer" night viewing activity of Shanghai Binjiang Forest Park will first open the first phase of 7 sessions for reservations. After the first phase, the registration for subsequent sessions will be opened.
The "Chenshan Wonderful Night" summer camp is also very popular. After the registration for the 14th summer camp was opened, more than 500 places were sold out within 24 hours. Wang Ximin looked at the complaints left by many tourists who couldn't get a place in the backstage, smiled bitterly and shook his head: "We have added several sessions this year, but we still can't meet the demand. I'm really sorry, but it's not appropriate to increase the pressure on the park's ability to serve tourists at night or the natural environment's night carrying capacity."
Similar to Chenshan Botanical Garden, many other parks have also made it clear that they will not increase the number of night tours or places in the park this year. The currently announced event arrangements have been fully evaluated in advance and are determined based on the park's geographical conditions and reception capacity, taking into account whether the reception volume will affect or even harm the animals and plants in the park.
"The previous idea was to design night tour routes around the animal exhibition areas, but the scale of the activity has been developed to its limit. We are exploring the potential of public spaces in the park." Wu Tong revealed that the secondary forest behind the Lion and Tiger Mountain in the Shanghai Zoo has undergone micro-renewal and has become the home of the newly developed "Forest Class" this year. It is an ideal place for night viewing of small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, insects and other animals. Six to seven "Forest Classes" are planned to be held here this summer.
A secondary forest with a natural science function. Provided by Shanghai Zoo
The problem of being limited by space can be solved by expanding the space. In recent years, parks such as Shanghai Botanical Garden and Chenshan Botanical Garden have cooperated with communities to bring natural science education activities to schools and communities with conditions, so that citizens and tourists do not have to flock to the park for night tours. At the same time, online live broadcasts have been launched to further meet the needs of citizens for night tours in the park.
"We bring artificially bred corn snakes, flower turtles, two-footed rhinoceros beetles, mealworms and other animals to schools and communities so that everyone can observe and touch them at close range." Guo Jiangli said that last year, the Shanghai Botanical Garden and three communities cooperated to develop a community version of "Undercover Visits to Night Elves". Enthusiastic residents in the community were trained to become "nature teachers" resident in the community. Through the community WeChat group, they recruited parents and children to explore the biodiversity "home" at their doorsteps on summer nights.
According to reports, the "nature teachers" will carry several "insect tubes" with them to temporarily store the light-attracting insects attracted by the light curtain, and then open the tubes to release them after the residents have watched. A group of men, women, young and old gathered together because of their common desire for knowledge, and the community atmosphere is very beautiful.
The science guide of Shanghai Botanical Garden patiently answered every question of the children. Photo by Haishar
Night tours in the park are good, but if they are to be sustainable, the key is to create and protect a rich "family foundation".
It has rained continuously in recent days, but Guo Jiangli is not annoyed at all. When the rain stopped at night, she hurriedly had dinner, took her night photography equipment, and hiked to the fern garden in the park, where there are two stars among the "night elves" of Shanghai Botanical Garden - the yellow-veined firefly and the stick insect.
"Compared with the 'Big New Year' in 2022, the firefly situation last year and this year is slightly weaker as human activities have increased significantly." Guo Jiangli said that after the summer this year, she strolled in the park almost every night. The number of yellow-winged fireflies ranged from a dozen to forty or fifty every night. During the same period in 2022, hundreds of yellow-winged fireflies could be seen on a single night.
Fireflies like to live in places with little human interference, little light pollution, and abundant water and grass. Therefore, they are known as one of the ecological environment indicator species, and their abundance can be used to judge the quality of the soil and water. "They are very fragile. If it weren't for the careful care in recent years, there might be even fewer this year." Guo Jiangli said that Shanghai Botanical Garden has set up conservation areas in areas where more fireflies have been recorded, and adopted a "non-intervention" maintenance gesture, not turning on lights, cleaning dead branches and leaves, not weeding, not spraying insecticides, and not opening night tour routes unless necessary.
Yellow-veined fireflies flying at night in Shanghai Zoo. Photo by vc
It is reported that artificial light sources that are always on will seriously interfere with the fireflies' courtship signals, greatly reducing their reproductive efficiency, and thus leading to a sharp decline in the population. In the eyes of many people, the piles of dirty dead branches and leaves are actually the "bedrooms" of fireflies. The humus layer formed by the natural degradation of dead branches and leaves can provide them with shelter. In the humid environment of the rainy season, this place can also attract snails, slugs, freshwater snails and other "food" for fireflies. "The park gives priority to serving citizens and tourists, and needs to maintain a clean, beautiful and stable landscape effect, but in order to protect the 'night elves', these rules do not apply in the conservation area." Guo Jiangli said firmly.
It is this kind of "rule by inaction" that has given nature a chance to breathe. The latest survey shows that the Shanghai Botanical Garden has recorded 158 bird species, 5 amphibian species, 10 reptile species, and 6 mammal species. Except for the northern narrow-mouthed frog, all the other 6 frog species native to Shanghai can be seen in the Shanghai Botanical Garden.
Some unexpected surprises also appear from time to time. Recently, a large number of tiger beetles appeared on the ecological revetment of the lake area in the northern area of Shanghai Botanical Garden, with more than ten to twenty per square meter. "Perhaps they had been 'lurking' before, and with the optimization of the habitat, they began to multiply in large numbers, making them easier to observe." Guo Jiangli said that the long-lost stick insects discovered a few years ago were also in a similar situation. They were either "lurking" for a long time or "moved" with the transplanted plants in the garden project. No matter which possibility is, the improvement and stability of the ecological environment are necessary conditions.
Mirror tiger beetles have recently appeared in large numbers in the northern area of Shanghai Botanical Garden. Courtesy of Shanghai Botanical Garden
"Some night tours are still at the stage of sightseeing. We hope to guide children to go further on the basis of understanding biodiversity and establish a scientific view of nature." Wang Ximin pointed to the "popular science courtyard" next to the office. At first glance, this is a "wild land" that has never been carefully taken care of, but in fact it hides mysteries - the planted Aristolochia is the favorite food of many butterfly larvae, the randomly piled bamboo tubes are the homes of leafcutter bees, and plants such as Ligustrum lucidum and loquat are the favorites of birds. Volunteers also used local materials to make a Benjesten pile with dead branches and leaves that resembles natural bushes. The nearby cameras often find traces of red-bellied squirrels, hedgehogs, and weasels at night.
"Sometimes non-interference is the best protection." Wang Ximin said that not only should the rich "family heritage" be passed on to future generations, but also the concept that humans and nature are a community of life should be passed on.
Beehives filled with bamboo tubes and Aristolochia, a host plant for some butterflies. Courtesy of Chenshan Botanical Garden
