Wildlife that is 'paw-etry' in motion

A giraffe is munching on leaves, a koala is scratching itself, and a red panda is frolicking among the branches of a loquat tree, nibbling on the fruit even when it's still unripe. In the morning, the small muntjac in the Gaoligong exhibit sips water by the riverbank, while the neighboring white-browed gibbon suddenly bursts into song. The startled muntjac lifts its head briefly in surprise but soon resumes drinking, and those meant to be asleep continue their slumber undisturbed.

These are the "specific images" Wu Chencen thought about when she was writing the poem Zai Dongwuyuan Zuomeng (Dream at the Zoo), "not just the names of giraffes, gibbons, silver pheasants, koalas, or red pandas".

"What I also remember about the moment is the change in light, the smell of the air, and the spontaneous 'wow' from the tourists around me," she says.

Wu's poem is one of 52 in a new poetry collection published by Yilin Press, Jieshu Yizhou Gongzuo Hou, Wo Huiqu Dongwuyuan Zuomeng: Hongshan Dongwuyuan Shige Ji (After Finishing the Week's Work, I Go to the Zoo to Dream: Hongshan Forest Zoo Poetry Collection).

Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, situated in the capital city of Jiangsu province, has been widely recognized as "a zoo full of heart". It is known for its dedication to high animal welfare standards, active wildlife rescue, and conservation research. Embracing the principle of "equality of life" between humans and animals, it tries to foster a harmonious coexistence between people and nature.

At the launch event for the poetry collection on the evening of June 5 — World Environment Day — in the middle of the lawn beside the meerkat exhibit, Shen Zhijun, the zoo director and the book's compiler, stood holding a microphone, and said, "It's such a pleasure to be here on such a weekend ... Here we have rescued many birds, releasing them from this lawn to let them return home," counting them off one by one: black kites, kestrels, collared scops owls, and crested goshawks.

Shen has worked at the zoo for 18 years, striving to make it a true home for animals. He has eliminated animal performances and paid feeding, renovated the zoo to restore natural habitats, respected natural animal behaviors, and helped wildlife regain their wild nature.

"Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo is quite unique. Want to see animal performances? There are none. Are you sure to see certain animals? Not really. Want to spot a particular animal right away? Very difficult. The zoo just serves as 'an embassy' of the animal kingdom within the human city. All living things have spirits and live in harmony. Animals have the right to choose not to appear and hide; they don't exist just for human observation," Shen says.

Since 2023, the zoo, in collaboration with organizations including Poetry Periodical, has been hosting a nature poetry contest on the International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated annually on May 22. The contest invites poetry submissions from anyone who loves animals and nature. By 2025, the event had received over 200,000 submissions from people of all ages and backgrounds, from children to retired seniors. From the submissions, 52 poems have been chosen, each representing a weekend of the year.

Some poems are innocent and childlike, others are stark and somber. Some are intense, while others are gentle, says Xu Qiongyu, one of the book's editors.

"Together, they suggest a possibility: amid real plants and animals, we can create our own little paradise, allowing us to reconnect deeply with our wild, natural instincts," she says.

Hou Shuwen, a second-grade elementary school student, says that he wrote the poem Hongshan Moonlight Sonata because he wondered what the animals do at night when there are no visitors, using the Hollywood film Night at the Museum — where the exhibits come to life after hours — as inspiration.

Wu and Hou are representatives of the people who have contributed poems, and zoo visitors who take the time to appreciate all the animals, not just the "celebrity" ones.

They observe and write about everything, from the "crowd-pleasers" — pandas, Siberian tigers, and Asian elephants — to beetles, ants, and fireflies. Their poems capture the slow gait of giraffes, the rounded silhouette of koalas, meerkats sunbathing belly-up, lions lost in daydreams, kangaroos sparring, golden monkeys exercising, and the leisurely pace of red pandas, who seem to do just one thing a day. They also describe the intriguing face of the white-faced capuchin monkey "Dudu", which invites a second glance.

For Shen, these verses reflect people's deep affection for Hongshan and their love for the "furry kids". What makes the zoo so inspiring is that all the animals here live true to their nature. "They can be wild, playful, affectionate, and even a bit unruly. When each animal lives authentically, it forms a genuine spiritual connection with us," he says.

Zhang Yu, editor-in-chief of Yilin Press, says this book is a true "collective creation". "The authors of this book might include many of you here, as well as the zoo's staff members, since some content comes from the zoo's signs and slogans," he says.

"People contributed to this collective creation, motivated by dreams of a better environment and a more peaceful state of mind," he notes.

For him, this book is a way for ordinary people to express, in the simplest way, their message to the world: "I was there, I saw you, and I was moved."