I have a wildlife zoo

What came into view was the first saltwater crocodile exhibition area right after entering!

In the middle of the dense jungle lay a narrow strip about 40 meters long and 15 meters wide, with a babbling stream near the side where visitors observed, followed by a somewhat muddy grassland.

The crocodile exhibit didn't need to be exceptionally large; the most important things were providing pools, a platform for sunbathing, and shade.

Especially for the hefty saltwater crocodile, only buoyancy in water allowed comfortable movement. Staying onshore for long periods placed a lot of strain on the internal organs due to their weight, which greatly affected their health.

A few dark-colored, massive saltwater crocodiles were either lying quietly on the grassy and muddy ground, motionless, or slowly drifting in the water with their heads and upper bodies visible above the surface.

The smaller ones were over two meters long, while the largest one looked almost 5 meters in length—longer than an average car!

Even though it was lying on the grass with its mouth shut, appearing lazy and lacking any sense of might, the ferocious teeth protruding from its mouth hinted at a formidable size, which would certainly be fierce when hunting!

Daigo's eyes bulged as he opened his mouth wide and exclaimed, "My Tortoise! Such a huge crocodile, that's badass!"

If his exclamation upon seeing the Yangtze alligator statue around the corner earlier had a bit of liveliness to liven up the atmosphere,

his current exclamations were completely genuine, with not the slightest bit of pretense!

Lin Hao, holding onto the railing, gazed at the gigantic saltwater crocodile on the grassland across the stream, with scales arranged as neatly as chainmail, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy shit, that's fierce! What kind of crocodile is this?"

Here, as at the Lion Bridge, the gaps between the railings were protected with wire mesh, mainly to prevent younger children from being squeezed through and falling down, which would be dangerous.

The railing also featured a conspicuous caution sign: an image of a mother helping a child sit on the railing, encircled in red and slashed through. The message was clear, not to engage in such dangerous behavior.

Lili studied a sign next to her carefully, "This one is a saltwater crocodile! Wow, the introduction says the saltwater crocodile is the largest of all crocodile species and also the largest reptile in the world!"

The visitors were snapping photos and discussing animatedly.

Reactions varied, with some excited, some curious, some frightened!

"I've never seen such a big crocodile before!"

"Everyone's doomed! Who's the next piece of meat on the chopping board!"

Lin Hao smiled knowingly, recognizing the sign of a veteran croc player.

"I've seen crocodiles hunting in documentaries, they're extremely ferocious!"

"Why aren't these crocodiles moving at all? They look like wooden blocks, are they models?"

"They do look fake, should we throw a stone at one?"

"I'll go find one by the road."

Daigo, overhearing the joking exchange between two visitors nearby, frowns and turns, "Are your brains filled with holes? If you want to know if the crocodiles are alive, why not jump in and verify for yourselves?"

Lin Hao was taken aback, inwardly cursing, "Fuck!"

He had heard the two talking about throwing stones at the crocodiles and was already somewhat angered, wondering if there was an animal keeper nearby to talk to, but Daigo had already started confronting them directly.

The two visitors didn't expect to be confronted out of the blue. The guy with glasses was startled while the guy with the backpack became angry and embarrassed, "Are you sick?"

The surrounding visitors, hearing the argument, all turned their attention to the commotion!

Daigo, noticing the tourists' gaze upon them, puffed out his chest even more and raised his voice in righteous indignation, "Did you hear that, Big Fire? These two were about to pick up stones to throw at the crocodiles! The crocodiles were just lying there, and you wanted to throw a stone at them; how reprehensible is that behavior!"

Lili immediately stood up to support Daigo, retorting sharply, "If you were sleeping motionless, and I wanted to know if you were asleep or dead, could I also throw a stone at you?"

"Oh!!"

"The girl speaks the truth!"

The older tourists established a sense of proper visiting etiquette, showing their disdain for such uncivilized behavior. They disapproved of knocking on glass and feeding the animals and began to applaud earnestly! Following the principle that people love to watch a lively scene, other tourists also joined in the applause.

The intelligent monitoring system captured the situation here, and the voice of the monitoring staff came through the speakers, "Please visit civilly, do not quarrel, an animal keeper is on the way."

When they said right away, they meant right away; the animal keeper from the crocodile area, Chuan, appeared out of nowhere—it turned out the keeper had been there all along.

There are two viewing points in the crocodile area, one above ground and one below!

Above ground, visitors can observe the crocodiles lying on the grass or floating on the water's surface; by taking the sloping path down, they can enjoy watching the crocodiles swimming through the glass walls.

The backpacker got so frustrated by the confrontation that his face turned red, "Are you brain-damaged? Crocodiles are cold-blooded animals; they don't feel pain. How can they be compared with people!"

Hearing the backpacker's words, Chuan showed an incredulous expression and said, "Ahem, first, I need to correct you, visitor. 'Cold-blooded' is a colloquial term, but it's not accurate.
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The correct term is 'ectothermic,' which means an animal's body temperature changes with the environment.

Apart from birds and mammals, all other animals are ectothermic.

There's also another big misunderstanding, and it's a traditional misconception that 'cold-blooded' means heartless and unfeeling as if these animals have some superpower where they don't eat, drink, defecate, or urinate, and they don't feel pain or emotions.

Whether ectothermic animals can feel pain, I believe they do feel pain, although their sense of pain might not be completely the same as ours. Just like a centipede with its hundreds of legs moving, as humans, we can't imagine what it feels like to have hundreds of arms and legs.

Most of us who work in the reptiles and amphibians exhibit have experience raising such pets. I have a tortoise, and when it first came to me, it was quite afraid of me. But it gradually became more familiar with me, allowed me to touch it without fear, and even moved around the living room, following behind me. Do you think they have emotions?"

The tourists listened thoughtfully.

"So reptiles are not called 'cold-blooded' but 'ectothermic.' I used to think 'cold-blooded' meant they were emotionless."

"If they're animals, they definitely have a sense of pain. Otherwise, how would they survive without knowing when they're hurt?"

"Indeed, I also raised a tortoise when I was younger, and tortoises are quite spiritual animals."

They found it easier to understand the sensations and emotions of pain in mammals, as the most common pets nowadays are cats and dogs, and who hasn't seen a cat get angry or a dog look dejected?

Ectothermic animals have a different physiology from humans, and whether they have senses of pain and emotion might involve not just scientific, but also philosophical considerations.

As the saying goes, 'You are not a fish; how can you know the joy of a fish?' Likewise, 'You are not a fish; how can you know the pain of a fish?'

In reality, their support for Daigo was mainly due to their disgust towards the uncivilized act of throwing stones and had not truly considered the crocodiles' feelings.

After Chuan finished explaining, his expression turned solemn as he admonished, "Regardless, throwing stones at animals is strictly forbidden in our zoo—it is incredibly uncivilized."

"We were just joking," mumbled the man with glasses, exchanging a glance with the backpacker. They slunk off sheepishly.

Chuan scratched his head and picked up the walkie-talkie, "Hello, Command Center, these two intended to throw stones but didn't succeed, as other tourists dissuaded them. However, they didn't admit their fault. I suggest we log this as a minor offense."