Yuan Zai Loves Mama Horse Ma Zoo on Mother’s Day

By MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Team

It's once again the bamboo shoot season for arrow bamboo, Phyllostachys bambusoides, and Dendrocalamus latiflorus. Just like her mom, "Yuan Zai" absolutely loves munching on the slender shoots, but her peeling and eating skills and speed are nowhere near those of "Yuan Yuan." You can often see the bamboo shoot that "Yuan Zai" is playing with suddenly end up in her mom’s hands. But mom takes excellent care of "Yuan Zai," who in return sweetly whispers in her ear from time to time—Mama, I love you.

A few days ago, Yuan Zai’s personal photographer unexpectedly captured a bamboo shoot battle between Yuan Zai’s “surrogate mom” and “Mama Yuan Yuan.” Yuan Yuan’s bamboo peeling skills were truly impressive, and her eating speed was naturally something that Yuan Zai, who had just started eating solid food, couldn’t keep up with. That day, after finishing her own dinner, Yuan Yuan spotted that Yuan Zai still had a bamboo shoot in hand, so she simply took it and enjoyed it herself. The surrogate mom immediately handed another shoot to the seemingly disappointed Yuan Zai, but it still didn’t escape Yuan Yuan’s watchful eyes and quick moves.

Even when Yuan Yuan was full and had settled down to digest her meal, the surrogate mom tried to slip another shoot to Yuan Zai, but Yuan Yuan managed to hold back her usual move of lifting her tail and bending down, quickly standing up to snatch the shoot away. In this way, the five-round bamboo shoot battle of wits between the surrogate mom and Mama Yuan Yuan ended with all the shoots ending up in the paws of Yuan Zai, who then generously offered them to her beloved Mama Yuan Yuan.

Besides her beloved birth mom, Yuan Zai also has a group of caring “surrogate moms.” Among the animal babies of Yuan Zai’s cohort, some are raised by their own mothers, while others, due to reasons such as their moms not producing milk, lacking parenting skills, or other unavoidable circumstances, are cared for by “surrogate moms” who feed and clean them. In these cases, zookeepers, regardless of gender or prior parenting experience, must pull out all the stops and step up to the challenge.