Chapter 543: Giving the Panda a Bath?
Watching the duck flap its wings and sprint across the desk, the classroom instantly entered a state of merriment!
Some students laughed boisterously, others cheered and whistled, and yet more took out their phones to snap photos.
It was much more interesting than listening to a dull advanced mathematics class.
The lively discussion started up, "Where did this duck come from?"
"Let's catch it and send it to the cafeteria! We'll have beer-braised duck for an extra meal today!"
"No, it seems like one from Linhai Zoo! I've seen this kind of duck at their Waterfowl Lake!"
Old Tang was originally dissatisfied with the students' noise. Sleeping in class deserved some scolding, but now they're causing a ruckus?
But when he looked up and saw the duck "quack quack" quacking and flying around the classroom, he seemed a bit scared and had run to a corner in the front row.
Faced with this unexpected situation and somewhat at a loss for words, he scratched his head and said, "How did the duck get into the classroom? Come on, open the door, and shoo it out!"
A student shouted, "Teacher, it looks like it's a duck from the zoo!"
"No matter where it's from..." Old Tang thought for a moment, "Let's have two students catch it and take it to the counselor! Ask the counselor to contact the zoo. Hurry back after you're done!"
With the opportunity to skip class legitimately, the students eagerly volunteered, hands shooting up as they stared eagerly at the ruddy shelduck, "Teacher, let me do it!"
Zhu Yu and Wu Jiancong took the lead, rushing out of their seats, surrounded the ruddy shelduck, caught it, and took it outside.
Old Tang complained, "Just now you all shot your hands up; if only you were this enthusiastic when answering questions in class!"
He shook his head, "This zoo really, they can't even keep an eye on their animals. It's lucky it's just a duck that got out, not a lion or a tiger."
The students burst into uproarious laughter! Joyful laughter filled the classroom.
Old Tang looked at the lively students and felt it wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Compared to the dull atmosphere earlier, everyone seemed a lot more spirited.
He cracked a smile, and flipping open the textbook, said, "Alright, the duck's been taken out, let's continue with the lesson!"
...
Zhu Yu and Wu Jiancong happily walked out with the captured duck.
All the way to the counselor's office.
The counselor, looking at the ruddy shelduck, exclaimed in surprise, "What's going on here?"
"Teacher, this duck flew into our classroom just now, and it seems to have escaped from the zoo!"
"Is that so..."
The counselor pulled open a drawer and after a quick search found a small booklet.
She had taken a booklet when visiting the bird pavilion last time, and she remembered there was a rescue center's phone number in the back.
She dialed the number, "Hello... yes, it's like this, a duck from your zoo has flown into our Xinghe University classroom! Can you come over to pick it up?"
The staff member asked, "Is it a yellow duck?"
"That's the one!"
"It might be one of the ruddy shelducks we rescued earlier, which were softly released in Waterfowl Lake. Although they live in the zoo, they are capable of flight and have the freedom to come and go, so if you see them, don't worry, they can be left outside!"
The counselor had never heard of 'soft release' before, but she roughly understood the meaning, "Oh, I see! Alright, alright, we'll let it out then."
...
The rescued ruddy shelducks had recovered their flight abilities after spending time resting and healing in Waterfowl Lake,
and gradually, a large portion of the ruddy shelducks had flown away from the zoo to fend for themselves.
A small group remained in Waterfowl Lake, showing no intention of leaving.
Perhaps they found the environment of Waterfowl Lake to their liking and were planning to find mates and breed there.
Since they were rescued from a breeding farm, these shelducks that flew away didn't act like wild ducks; they didn't know to avoid humans and caused quite a few incidents.
Recently, for the past one or two weeks, not only has the rescue center of the zoo been receiving calls from time to time, but familiar friends have also been constantly asking Fang Ye on WeChat whether it was the zoo's ducks that had escaped.
Today, Wang Yan, after hearing about the incident, teased Fang Ye through WeChat messages.
It all started with Officer Wang from the nearby police station asking him about ducks flying onto the highway and sightings being reported to the police by the public.
A few days later, another message arrived, saying ducks had flown near the vegetable market, been captured and sold as wild ducks, which had been spotted by concerned citizens who called the police.
Fang Ye didn't know whether to laugh or cry at these unlucky ducks and replied with a face-palm emoji!
Afterward, Mi Jin also asked him about it, mentioning that the TV station had received calls from citizens reporting ducks flying into residential areas and even office buildings.
Interested in the matter, she interviewed him to find out the story behind these ducks and what citizens should do upon encountering them, then wrote an article and posted it on Green Coastal Linhai.
"Since these ruddy shelducks were rescued from breeding farms, they're not good at avoiding people, so they require even more patience and care from us citizens.
If these ruddy shelducks appear on roads, drivers can honk to scare them off, or disperse them from the road in other ways while ensuring safety and complying with traffic regulations.
If they turn up in residential complexes or office buildings, gently herd them to an open area so they can fly away on their own.
If they're injured and can't fly, you can call the rescue center's number xxxx.
A special reminder, do not touch them with bare hands; although the ducks rescued by the zoo have been vaccinated, they could still be wild ruddy shelducks that may carry pathogens.
Also, the ruddy shelduck is a nationally protected animal, and it is illegal to capture, keep, kill, or sell them privately."
The zoo also published an article, but the readership was not high.
People are still more interested in star animals like pandas and elephants.
…
The incident with the ruddy shelducks was just a minor episode.
After lunch, Fang Ye called Lan Li to start a live broadcast!
"First!"
"Hey, is Yanzu here to watch the live broadcast?"
"Haha, everyone in the live room is talented and speaks so nicely; it feels just like coming home!"
As netizens flooded in, the live room quickly became lively.
"Director, take us to see Waterfowl Lake!"
"Ah, does the zoo now have Waterfowl Lake too? That's really cool!"
"Are there swans?"
"Yes, there are black swans, white swans, and even mandarin ducks. I went there last weekend and the scenery was especially beautiful!"
Fang Ye smiled and said, "I'll take everyone to see it in a bit!"
While walking and chatting, Fang Ye said, "Speaking of Waterfowl Lake, there's a funny story. Our zoo has been getting calls recently about our ducks escaping. Today, there was another duck that flew into a classroom.
In fact, those ruddy shelducks, although rescued by our zoo, have been soft-released at Waterfowl Lake and are free to come and go.
Some ducks appeared on the highway, some were taken to the vegetable market, and others ended up in residential buildings and schools."
"Haha, is it really that fun?"
"Just hearing about it sounds interesting, hope these stories keep happening!"
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"But honestly, ducks on the highway is a bit dangerous, right?"
Fang Ye said, "Well, our Linhai TV station is probably going to do a program in the next couple of days, reporting on this incident and educating the citizens about it."
"Nice, I hope the little guys learn to avoid vehicles soon!"
"What's the director up to now?"
"Recently, many tourists have commented that the pandas are looking a bit dirty, so I'm off to give the pandas a bath!"