Following the lifting of Wuhan's 76-day lockdown on April 8, the Wuhan zoo reopened to the public on Wednesday, with the number of visitors limited within 15,000 per day. 　

The zoo closed on January 22, one day before authorities announced the citywide lockdown. "Socially isolating" for three months, the animals had a more quiet and private time, so they appeared to have been busy procreating.

Two babies of milu deer, also known as the Chinese elk or the Pere David's deer, and one pony were born in the zoo. One baby milu deer born on April 2 is named Kangyi, which is equivalent to "anti-epidemic."

The pony, named Jiefeng, means "lifting," was born on the morning of April 8. The other milu deer born at afternoon on the same day is called Chongqi, which means "reopen" in English.

The staff said that all animals are in good health. During the closure of the zoo, the staff disinfected the facilities and the cages every day, and strengthened animal observation and epidemic monitoring.

"The operating room and rest room must be disinfected every day. A total of 15 or 20 kilograms of bamboo has to be moved in or out," said a staff member in the zoo.

The zoo has also set a limit of 15,000 visitors during peak visiting hours during the day, and adopted contactless ticketing. The outdoor venues are normally open in the zoo. Four indoor venues, where the panda, hippo, rhinoceros and baboon live, will remain closed.

"Everyone is welcome to the Wuhan zoo. Meanwhile, we hope that everyone can cooperate with our work by wearing masks and taking temperature when entering the zoo as well as keeping a distance of 1.5 meters when visiting. We wish all our visitors health," said Chen Liyun, a staff member.

(Cover image is a tiger in Wuhan Zoo, April 22. 2020. /VCG)

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