Shanghai's wild animal park launches night safari

The Shanghai Wild Animal Park on July 1 launched the fifth edition of its highly anticipated night safari which will run till the end of August.

The night experience will last until 8pm.

"Our goal is to offer visitors a glimpse into the animals' active hours without disrupting their routines," said Zhou Mei, the park's chief veterinarian, noting that this approach ensures the animals experience minimal stress.

To achieve this goal, the park has rolled out the Twilight Bus and Water Exploration tours which allow visitors to observe the animals in an ethical manner.

The park also uses soft and naturalistic illumination technology that replicates the gentle radiance of the moon, thus ensuring the welfare of the animals while allowing visitors to take in the scenes without the need for disruptive personal light sources.

Other steps the park has taken to care for the wellbeing of its animals include placing hollow tree trunks and logs within animal habitats and providing creatures like badgers with the freedom to select their preferred sleeping arrangements.

Additionally, the park's animal keepers stimulate active foraging behaviors by placing hidden food items in rock crevices and shallow soil layers near ponds, allowing the animals to utilize their hunting and scavenging instincts.

Due to the limited capacity of the night tour event, the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, the Shanghai Botanical Garden and the Chenshan Botanical Garden will be holding nature education activities in local communities to allow more people to learn about wildlife.

Members of the public will also be able to experience the night safari through live streaming sessions hosted by the parks.

Chen Leyang contributed to this story.