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He sprayed water towards the visitors, a big splash with each blast and not quite the same.
This time, Pingping’s target was specifically aimed at Fang Ye, with concentrated firepower, drenching Fang Ye like a drowned rat!
Fang Ye’s head became soaked, and he quickly swiped his hands over his head, flicking water everywhere.
Looking up, he saw Pingping grinning and reaching out its trunk at him, and Fang Ye couldn’t help but laugh wryly, "Hehe! You’re such a cute... big rascal."
He reached out his hand and gave Pingping’s trunk a shake!
Being sprayed with water was acceptable, but like a little kid, if this several-ton creature ran towards him for a loving hug, it would be more weight than life could bear.
Pingping touched his hand with the tip of her trunk, not finding any food and a bit disappointedly retracted it.
Netizens teased, "Zookeeper, didn’t you mean to say ’little rascal’? You call such a big elephant ’little rascal’?"
"In the elephant’s heart, she thinks, ’The cute little zookeeper is coming to play with me again."
"Weren’t you just licked on the head by a black panther? Now the elephant sprays some water, and it’s perfect for a head wash!"
"This is VIP treatment, I envy the zookeeper! I came to play last weekend and saw the elephant spraying water outside. I wanted to get drenched too, but I didn’t get a chance."
"Even though it’s a big guy, it looks so adorable! So cute."
"Who doesn’t like elephants?"
"Why is it that even though all the animals look the same to me, the zookeeper can call out their names?"
Fang Ye said with a smile, "Pingping is 9 years old this year, the youngest elephant in the elephant house. Actually, calling her a little rascal isn’t really a problem."
He patted Pingping’s trunk, saying, "Everyone loves you a lot!"
Playing with big cats like lions and tigers, they enjoy being stroked lightly, and the animals really enjoy his touch.
But stroking an elephant does not give them the same comfort.
So when coming to play with elephants, it’s best to let the elephant take the lead.
He followed Pingping around the exercise yard for a leisurely walk!
Every day, the staff at the elephant house drives a small motor vehicle to pile up sand dunes and create mud pits. The environment in the venue changes daily, and the elephants’ explorations are always novel and fun.
Pingping walked from the grass to the sandy area, stepping into the sandpit.
Her feet, which had just been wet, left moist footprints in the sandpit, each with a diameter of more than half a meter.
The footprints of Fang Ye were next to them, the contrast was very obvious.
"The zookeeper’s footprints compared to those of the elephant’s, look so small!"
"They’re like the footprints of giants. Maybe the ancestors imagined giants from mythologies after seeing the footprints of elephants and hearing the thunderous sound of a group of them walking in the mountains?"
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"That’s a real possibility!"
Fang Ye said with a smile, "Do you know? Elephant footprints are actually an essential part of the ecological chain!"
Driven by curiosity, netizens didn’t know the ecological value of elephants, but they were sure it existed.
The zookeeper had said it before, every wild animal’s existence has its unique significance.
However, the importance of elephant footprints indeed goes beyond imagination.
Fang Ye continued, "After the rainy season, the forest becomes muddy. When elephants pass through, they leave deep footprints. Their weight, amounting to several tons, makes the mud pits sink deep, sometimes up to 30 centimeters!"
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These indented footprints, after collecting water, became miniature ponds that could serve as breeding chambers for frogs, unlike some ponds with larger animals, these breeding chambers rarely have predators. The ponds formed by elephant footprints could retain water for a long time and also became precious water sources for some small animals during the dry season.
Researchers have specifically studied this, and in over 30 elephant footprints, they discovered 61 species of small invertebrates, belonging to 9 different orders, including frogs, dragonflies, spiders, snails, and other small creatures—essentially becoming a miniature habitat."
"Wow, awesome!"
"It’s a whole world with every step!"
As netizens viewed Pingping’s footprints, a picture emerged in their minds: in the muddy puddles, frogs came to lay eggs, eggs turned into tadpoles, and then they jumped onto the bank to become frogs again.
The process of life’s conception and reproduction was actually completed in the footprints of elephants.
It seemed that elephants and frogs, with such vastly different sizes and seemingly no connection, had this incredible link; nature is truly amazing.
Fang Ye took the opportunity to explain further, "The ecological significance of Asiatic elephants to the forest is somewhat similar to that of wild boars!
The massive body can forge elephant paths in the forest, allowing smaller animals to travel farther for reproduction. The dung they leave behind is excellent fertilizer, which promotes tree growth and is sought after by dung beetles and various other animals.
However, elephants are much larger, their paths are broader, and they do things wild boars cannot.
For example, when scratching an itch, an elephant can push over some deadwood, clearing space for new saplings and allowing them to access precious sunshine.
This is extremely significant for forest succession!
If we say the wild boar is like a forest gardener, then the elephant is indeed an ecosystem engineer.
For some plants with larger seeds, like durian, without the help of large animals like elephants to disperse them, it would be quite difficult.
Durian, you know, is hard-shelled and full of spikes, which most animals cannot eat!
But for elephants, it’s simple. They can directly swallow the whole durian, and people have found intact durian shells and seeds in elephant dung."
The netizens listened, dumbstruck: "Holy shit!"
"Eating a durian whole, with the rind? That’s so fierce!"
"Aren’t they afraid that the durian spikes will damage their intestines? My elephant is impressive!"
"Just thinking about it gives me a phantom pain in my... how on earth do they pass that..."
"I remember in a comedy movie, someone hid directly inside an elephant’s anus. If a human could manage that without trouble, a durian passing through is nothing!"
"Gross, do we have to go there!"
"What a tough character! Hmm... both elephants and people."
Fang Ye laughed and said, "There should still be quite a few students who like to eat durian, right? Next time you eat durian, remember to think of the good elephants do."
"Haha, sure thing!"
"Hey Director, can you have an elephant perform eating a durian?"
Fang Ye said, "Durians ripen after June, where can I find one for you now? During summer, we’ll add durians to their food, and everybody is welcome to come and watch."
"Ok! I will definitely visit your zoo during the summer vacation."
Walking in the sand with Pingping, Pingping occasionally scooped up a handful of sand and flung it onto its back.
Fang Ye had previously assumed that elephants sprinkled sand on themselves by sucking it up with their trunks and spraying it out, similar to how they spray water.
After observing the elephants, he discovered that they actually have two ways of applying sand: sucking and rolling, with rolling being more common, similar to how humans would grab a handful of sand to spread around.