Rural life in America

Chapter 259 The Difficult Road to Rewilding

Christina and her colleagues helped sort out the contract, and Zhang Hao will donate $100 million to Oregon State University's Forestry and Wildlife Department.The donation of this money actually has nothing to do with Zhang Hao. This is a donation, not a sponsorship; if you sponsor, you can also ask to see the progress of scientific research, the right to use the research results, etc.

But the donations, basically don't have many donors' business; but the money can't be spent indiscriminately, it should be used for some wild animal research, which is all listed in the contract.

Zhang Hao is in great pain, but there is nothing he can do; he will definitely donate more money in the future, because it is tax-deductible.Rather than being taken by the IRS, it's better to buy a good name and some convenience.

Another $50 was used for research on cats; the main thing was wild training for some cats, such as cheetahs and tigers.

Zhang Hao looks like a boy who spreads money, but he really has no choice; if he doesn't donate money, he can't do it. If he doesn't donate money, he will have to pay taxes!

With the help of a private accountant, and the help of Christina and her colleagues; Zhang Hao knows that he will inevitably have to pay some taxes, but it has dropped from an astronomical figure to an acceptable level.

Of course, the money was donated, and Zhang Hao also got some benefits; for example, Oregon State University and Zhang Hao now have more in-depth cooperation, and there is also some tacit understanding.

For example, although some information about wild training will not be handed over to Zhang Hao, Zhang Hao can ask to see some results and so on.Naturally, it also includes that since you are the funder, you can also participate in some wild training when you are bored, although in the eyes of those zoologists, a funder like Zhang Hao is just joining in the fun and doesn't know how to do it at all.

But if you want to support it, how can you continue to get these donations if you don’t support it?Therefore, it is definitely possible to make these donors feel that these donations are worthwhile without harming the situation!
Zhang Hao also felt that it was worth it. It was a pain in the flesh when the donation was made. Fortunately, the sound was heard after the money was spent;

Reasonable tax avoidance, this is reasonable tax avoidance, nothing to complain about.

Xixi is the happiest, because there are some benefits when signing the contract; the little girl is happily lying on the glass, looking at the lazy tiger is a joy.

Although Xixi has been to the zoo many times, she never feels bored every time. Seeing those cute little animals makes her feel quite new and interesting.

Accompanied by a staff member of the research institute, Zhang Hao was watching the tiger and listening to some explanations.

However, when looking at these tigers, Zhang Hao kept frowning, and he suddenly asked, "Is this a Bengal tiger or a Sumatran tiger?"

Miller, who accompanied the explanation, replied, "It's a Bengal tiger."

Zhang Hao thought for a while before asking, "Do you have some wild training for it, the very rudimentary one? It seems to be a little aggressive, but it doesn't have the ability to survive in the wild."

Miller replied with a smile, "Yes, we want to release him back into the wild, so we have been paying attention to doing some rewilding training on him. But you know this is a systematic project. We have held it hand in hand since it was born." Feed it and train it some hunting skills. It is different from some tigers in the zoo, those tigers don't like to eat live prey and don't like blood, but it is different, it will hunt and kill some small animals and eat them. "

Zhang Hao nodded. It is true that some tigers raised in many zoos are really just 'fake appearances'. Those tigers look majestic, but they even take a lot of effort to kill a chicken, let alone eat those bloody food.

And although the tiger I saw now dare not say how good it is in the wild, it at least maintains some wildness, and at least it will pounce on some small prey when it sees it.

Miller continued to explain, "The number of tigers living in the wild is now very small, and their living space is getting less and less, and it is even difficult to guarantee the continuation of the race. We must work hard, and we do not want to see the tragedies of Caspian tigers and Javan tigers. Repeat. So we need to let some captive-bred tigers learn to give birth and raise young in the wild, so as to ensure that the population can continue after being released into the wild.”

This is normal, because many wild animals are now on the verge of extinction; especially some wild animals have very little living space, and even those wild animals have some blood relations in some habitats.So once some wild animals are released, the reproduction of those animals can indeed be improved.

Zhang Hao asked again, "It's not just that they need to learn how to hunt or raise young, right? Wild training is a fairly systematic project, and it can't be rushed. Can you tell me about your wild results. "

Miller explained, more professional but not in-depth, "Generally we need to give them the ability to escape predators, no matter what kind of animal there will be natural enemies. But if they also need to have the ability to obtain and process food Ability, they need to learn the ability to get along with similar animals, build nests, survive in complex environments, and also need to learn 'positioning' and 'navigation'."

Zhang Hao nodded and said, "Be more specific."

Miller went on to explain, "The ability to hunt, to process food seems to be the most fundamental, they need to fill their stomachs. But you know, they are basically raised in captivity, so it is never really Hungry. They don't have such opportunities in the wild. They need to find food and water by themselves. And they don't know which animals can be hunted, and they don't know which animals to fight with may cause serious injuries or even become food for other predators. "

Finding food is the most fundamental ability, but it is also the most difficult; in a domesticated environment, these beasts basically have no possibility of starvation, nor will they be attacked desperately by other animals.

Building nests, positioning, etc., are all for the continuation of offspring; because many wild animals need to migrate, need to learn to adapt to new environments, etc., which is also quite complicated.This is not simply releasing an animal into a wild environment and letting it grope for itself, because these ferocious beasts have no such opportunity to learn in a domesticated environment, and they have lost the ability to survive in the wild.

Xixi looked at the tiger yelling, while Zhang Hao patiently listened to some of Miller's explanations.

Miller never mentioned their rewilding results, and finally spoke under Zhang Hao's persistent questioning, a little low and frustrated, "We have rewilded and trained two tigers, but neither of them persisted for a year. One starved to death and one was killed by other animals."

Zhang Hao was taken aback for a moment and didn't speak.

Miller smiled wryly, and said, "Sometimes I wonder if our research is necessary. We know that once we let them undergo wild training, we will to a large extent lead them to death. Although our wild There are a lot of reintroduction training programs, and we have confidence, but they don't grow up in nature after all. And you know, we will be by their side during rewilding training, and we will help them when there is danger. But not in the wild Such conditions, so we can only find their bodies in the end."

It sounds cruel, but this is the reality; sometimes wild training is really tantamount to death, because no matter how good wild training is, it is not as good as growing up in a cruel natural environment, no matter how good an animal trainer, zoologist Home is no match for the parents of those wild animals.

It's just whether you want to persist in the wild training, of course you have to persist; because once the wild training is successful, the benefits will be too many.Under artificial cultivation, there can be many ferocious beasts living comfortably in the zoo, and their number is constantly expanding; while in the wild environment, the number of real wild animals is constantly decreasing.

Artificial cultivation is difficult, but wild training is even more difficult!
"You guys keep up the hard work and serious rewilding and I'm sure you'll be successful and that's why I'm willing to give you some money. We all know we need to see them in the wild and see these real beasts .Not the guys in the zoo, they're not really beasts."

Regardless of whether it was true support or fake politeness, Zhang Hao still encouraged Miller and the others anyway; he did think so, because Zhang Hao felt that some animals in the zoo had actually lost the instinct of ferocious beasts, and they were not considered complete ferocious beasts.

After chatting happily, I took a look at the research objects of Miller and the others; after donating hundreds of thousands, I just visited the zoo for a while, which was really depressing.

Xixi was very happy, laying in grandma's arms and muttering all the time, the little girl was talking about the difference between tigers in zoos and tigers in cartoons, that tiger was not a delicate tiger, not a tigger
The clever Xixi is so powerful, when she sees a tiger, she immediately thinks of "Kung Fu Panda" and "Winnie the Pooh". Who.

In short, I was very happy, because I saw the cute tiger, and because I felt that the money was worth it, at least it was more cost-effective than paying taxes directly, which is almost the same.

However, Zhang Hao seems to have some thoughts, and he seems to be a little preoccupied; it is not because of the donation, but because he has a little understanding of some wild training and artificial cultivation, and he feels that some of the current research is not very good. Satisfactory, he felt that he might be able to do better.

It's just that if you really want to do more things, let's not talk about making money or not, just whether he is authoritative enough and whether anyone is willing to believe him, this is a big problem.

Another one, if you intervene in these things yourself, you will have no time to relax, and you will have to be busy all day, which can be regarded as "the end of the good days"!
(End of this chapter)