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Fran Lu

An animal sanctuary in China which is known as “the humblest zoo in history” has gone viral thanks to the meticulous care its director takes of its inhabitants.
The small zoo, located in a mountainous region in Kaili city, southwestern China’s Guizhou province, only measures 3,500 square metres but is home to more than 20 types of animals.

These include nationally protected animals such as the tiger, lion and bear.
The zoo’s director, 70-year-old Feng Yuanyong, is a retired secondary school headmaster from eastern China’s Anhui province.
After he retired in 2016, he and his wife moved to Kaili to take care of the zoo in which his brother is an investor.
Feng learned from scratch how to look after different animals and says he has become an expert over the past decade.

Formerly, the zoo was affiliated with a nearby entertainment park which helped sustain it.
However, the park closed and deteriorating road conditions resulted in a severe drop-off in visitors.
In October this year, a video taken by a group of visitors went viral. Many were touched by the 70-year-old’s unwavering love for the animals.

The zoo was also labelled as “the humblest zoo in history” because of its cheap ticket price: 20 yuan (US$3) per person.
Feng said the ticket price has remained the same for the past decade. Sometimes, he even lets visitors bargain.

With losses of 80,000 yuan (US$11,000) a year, Feng had to reduce the number of staff from five to three. He used his pension to sustain the zoo and other staff donated part of their salaries.
Feng also maintains the zoo’s facilities himself and even carved out a mountain path to the zoo.

“Even if I do not eat, I will not starve the animals,” Feng said.
Feng’s attitude and actions have moved many people online.
After the video went viral, the zoo’s payment QR code that was shared by visitors received donations from kind-hearted online observers.
Donations varied from one yuan to more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,400).
Feng recently thanked them, but also asked them to stop, saying their donations were already enough to sustain the zoo’s operation.

The sanctuary also welcomed more visitors in a day than the number it used to attract in four months before its overnight fame.
Feng plans to pick up his old profession in the future and hold classes to teach children about the animals in the zoo.
“The zoo is small but the animals are well taken care of,” said one online observer.
“I can tell the director really loves the animals,” said another.


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Kind-hearted sanctuary director keeps ticket prices low; says even if he cannot eat, he ‘will not let the animals starve’


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