I have a wildlife zoo

Fang Ye, fearful of shirking his responsibilities, prattled on to the netizens for quite some time.

Petting tigers was one thing; even if netizens found tigers adorable, it wouldn't cross many people's minds to get a tiger for themselves. They were sensible enough to know that tigers were beyond the reach of the average person—too expensive and too large to keep. They also understood that the intimacy depicted was extremely rare; if they tried it, they wouldn't know who would end up petting whom.

But owls were different. If Fang Ye didn't repeatedly emphasize the point after showcasing their cute and charming aspects, someone might start thinking of getting one for themselves.

Behind every wild animal trafficked to become a pet, perhaps dozens or even hundreds of their kind lay dead, many dying in the capturing and transport process.

Fang Ye waved at the camera, "Alright, bros, let's end the livestream here today. That's it, 88~"

"Okay, see you, Director!"

"It's unlikely that there will be another broadcast anytime soon; we'll have to wait until the rain stops~"

After bidding farewell to the netizens, Fang Ye felt his mouth was dry. He picked up his water bottle from the desk and gulped down a few mouthfuls. Then he spoke softly to Lan Li, who had been diligently filming: "Hard work! Let me pour you a glass of water too."

After pouring the water, Lan Li received the glass with a sweet smile, "Not at all, Director. It was you who did all the hard work speaking so much!"

There was something she didn't say: the knowledgeable Director was so handsome!

Since it was raining and rather leisurely, and there wasn't much to do, she wanted to stay a bit longer and offered her help, "Director, do you need me to look up some information for you?"

Fang Ye chuckled, "I need to find some papers on snakes. Would you like to help me search for them?"

There was preparation to be done for the reptiles and amphibians exhibit!

He had contacted various zoos earlier, securing animals such as the gray wolf, sika deer, bharal, and lions, but the acquisition of reptiles was more flexible.

Understanding what reptiles the zoos had, and having that information at hand, meant that any transferrable ones could be considered for introduction.

In his design, the zoo's reptile exhibit was divided into indoor and outdoor sections, with large species like crocodiles and land tortoises being outdoors. The indoor area would house larger lizards and snakes or require more space for mixed-species habitats, with most exhibit areas not exceeding ten or twenty square meters.

The rest were essentially small display cases measuring around one cubic meter or even smaller.

Although the environment had to be tailored to each animal's characteristics, it was much more flexible compared to larger animals. For example, the wolf exhibit's waterfall and tunnel took a long time to build and could not easily be altered once completed, meaning prior consideration was needed when designing the scenes.

Yet there was a tricky part!

While the small display cases were flexible and easy to assemble, they couldn't be built directly using the system's construction features, which required larger spaces. A single tree or rock could burst through the walls of the display case, preventing precise operations.

Hence, the environment within each display case had to be manually arranged after the exhibit was constructed.

"Snakes..." Lan Li was initially eager to help, but upon hearing that word, her face instantly blanched, and she forced a smile that looked more painful than crying, "Um, that, that..."

"Hey, it's just snakes. Stay calm, stay calm. You're not even that scared of tigers anymore, are you scared of snakes?"

Lan Li swallowed hard, her face a picture of conflict, "Director, I have a stomachache, I need to use the restroom!"

No matter how much he tried to console her, Fang Ye could only helplessly shake his head, "Forget it, go help me check on the veiled chameleon and the green iguana."

But he knew, some people are just afraid of snakes!

There are various opinions about the list of the most feared and despised animals, with spiders, centipedes, owls, bats, rats, wolves, lions, tigers, sharks, and so on all being regulars on the list. They're either very dangerous with strong attack capabilities, or their appearance is ugly and bizarre, not in line with human aesthetics.

But no matter the list, snakes always rank first by a wide margin.

The fear of snakes might be imprinted in human genes; it's not just humans, primate animals seem to have an innate fear of snakes as well.

There once was an experiment where a fake snake was placed in the macaque exhibition area of a zoo, causing a total uproar among the macaques. They became highly agitated, and more than 80 monkeys gathered around the fake snake, loudly shouting, warning, and attempting to attack.

One theory is that early primates could avoid attacks from carnivorous animals and birds of prey by observing them, but they didn't stand a chance against snakes, which looked just like sticks and often launched surprise attacks, leading to their death. Consequently, they evolved further.

The brain became more alert when seeing snake-like objects, and the eyes adapted to distinguish more colors, better differentiating snakes from sticks.

Then there's the cultural influence!

Oftentimes, snakes are associated with evil and terror. For instance, the most classic myth where God created Adam and Eve, forbidding them from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, yet a serpent in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Here, the snake symbolizes evil, personifying the devil himself.

There's also the legendary Medusa, whose gaze could turn people into stone, and Voldemort in "Harry Potter," who drank the venom of his pet serpent Nagini to increase his magical power. The stronger he became, the more he resembled a snake, his nostrils slitted and his pupils serpent-like.

Then there's the age-old fable "The Farmer and the Viper." A farmer saves a freezing snake only to be bitten in return. Snakes are seen as cold-blooded, heartless, and cruel animals.

But growing up under the pervasive influence of snake culture, most people's fear of snakes slowly becomes entrenched. Just hearing about snakes makes their skin crawl and hearts race, let alone seeing one. So being afraid of snakes is actually quite normal.

Lan Li was relieved to hear she didn't have to look up information about snakes and blinked cutely, "Director, my stomach doesn't hurt anymore!"

"Hehe."

Fang Ye didn't mind, and the two of them worked amicably at their computers.

A little later, his phone rang again—it was a call from the security guard, Lei Zhi.

When Lei Zhi called him, it usually meant there was a delivery at the gatehouse. However, they had just received a shipment of deliveries a few days ago, and he hadn't bought anything recently, had he?

As Fang Ye pondered this, feeling a bit puzzled, he answered the phone, "Hello, Lei Zhi, what's up?"

"Director, your duck necks have arrived!"

"Duck necks?" Find more to read at empire

Fang Ye was even more baffled. He never bought duck necks when he purchased snacks!

Nibbling meat off bones was such a hassle; it was better to just buy some beef jerky or something.

Could it be that he had made a mistake when placing an order?

With that thought, he said, "Okay, then bring it to my office."