We are no strangers to animals, and almost every adult has fond memories of close contact with animals during his childhood. In childhood without toys, animals were not only our best playmates, but also fascinating teachers.
Back then, when I was lying on the brick wall outside Shikumen with my friends and watching ants, it was no less than watching the documentary channel today. Every time there was new content. Except for ice and snow, ants are always present. As long as there are rice grains and insects on the brick wall, ants will come. If anyone catches a big green-headed fly, they will place it in the crack of the brick wall and wait for the ants to arrive. Usually, an ant comes first, finds the food and goes back to report it, and then several ants come together to drag the food away. If there is a large fish bone or flesh bone, more ants will come, including the ant general with big teeth. In the spring rain season, there will always be stagnant water in the forgotten mud pits deep in the alleys, and sometimes small tadpoles will appear. They will soon be scooped into their own small bottles with small spoons and fed with rice grains until the tadpoles grow four feet and are released. The shining chafer is a living kite: one end of the yarn is tied to the chafer's head and neck and the other end is pulled in the hand. The flyer saw that it was tired from flying and let it rest on the watermelon, watching it eat the watermelon in large gulps. It's also very enjoyable. These insignificant little animals brought us a different kind of happiness when we were children.
During the summer vacation and winter vacation, the most yearning is to go to relatives 'homes in the countryside. In the early morning, the crisp "ooh" sound of cocks comes one after another; among the "moo" sound of old scalpers and the "baa" sound of little lambs, the fragrance of rice porridge on the stove floats in the morning light. Washing rice and washing dishes in the river in front of your door can attract swarms of small fish and shrimp. The bluestone slabs of the water bridge are covered with snails, so you can fill a bowl with just a few touches. During the Chinese New Year, the various types of fish and shrimp that adults cooperate to round up are enough for the family to eat meat dishes for the New Year. The delicacy of crucian carp roasted with green onions makes the poor days full of unforgettable flavor. It is hard to imagine how boring our lives would be without animals.
In addition to the beautiful peacocks, the monkeys in the zoo are superstars we never tire of seeing. Looking at the little monkeys nestled up against their mothers on the Monkey Mountain, the wild monkeys chasing and playing, and the greedy monkeys deftly peeling banana candy with their hands, we were all filled with surprise: how similar they are to us! Because if we look into it, apes and us actually share a common ancestor, and humans are just a unique species in the animal kingdom.
Humans belong to the genus Homo sapiens in the subphylum Vertebrate, the class Mammaria, and the order Primates. Although the global human population is as high as 7 billion, spread across the world's seven continents and five oceans, with different skin colors and shapes, and different languages and ethnic groups, they are all a single species of this single family, single genus. We are an exception to the animal world. We account for less than one millionth of all animal species, but we are truly the lonely majority. We have the same origin as animals, and we have benefited from other animals and left the jungle to live and reproduce. From the hunting era when people drank blood, to the farming society where they had gone through gathering and grazing, and the industrial society where they had intensive production, we have all the way to the present era where life is strong enough to control. However, our material life in clothing, food, housing, and transportation is still inseparable from animals, and our creative source for exploring the unknown and developing culture is also inseparable from animals in all shapes and sounds. Of course, at certain times in local areas, we are also disturbed by beasts, rat pests and other disease vectors. This requires us to better understand each animal and control a safe distance from them.
Even though we have the high-tech technology of creating matter and replicating life today, we cannot create even a single-celled amoeba. Every existing animal on earth is the result of hundreds of millions of years of creation by nature. Animals play an irreplaceable role in material circulation, energy transformation and ecological maintenance in nature. Every animal is directly or indirectly related to us. If any one is missing, loopholes will appear in the ecological network on which we rely for survival.
For more than a century, the human population has risen exponentially, at the expense of a sharp decline in the numbers of other non-human species, including animals. A large number of animal habitats have been occupied and destroyed by humans, and countless regionally endemic species such as South China tigers, baiji dolphins, and finless porpoises have been extinct or are on the verge of extinction. Today, there are still countless animals that are being abused, over-hunted and slaughtered by humans. The light of modern civilization still has not shone on animals that share the same origin as humans.
Today, when we sincerely set up a monument to countless experimental animals that "the soul returns to nature, and the work remains in the world", we are moved by the loyalty and righteousness of the Japanese eight-male dog who has been waiting at the station for ten years for its owner's return, and by the Pacific gray whale's failure to remember whalers. Shocked by the tolerance of tourists, we, who regard ourselves as the spirit of all things, have come to reflect on and change our relationship with animals. Animals and our ancestors have lived together for millions of years, and we have an inseparable connection with animals, which can be obtained from our religious beliefs, mythological stories, rock paintings totems, architectural costumes, and cultural carriers of various art forms.
Modern scientific research shows that many animals have the awareness of actively communicating with humans. not only