Super Zoo

The majority of the zoo employees were very unfamiliar with the "internet live streaming" platforms, and the few who did frequent the internet only knew about "female anchors". It wasn't until Suming explained that everyone understood what it was all about.

Put simply, it was about live streaming the day-to-day lives of animals in various parts of the zoo. Without having to visit Yangchuan City Zoo, people could watch these animals directly through the internet. Technically, it was quite simple - just a basic implementation of the Internet of Things, a combination of high-definition cameras and network transmission technology.

After a brief introduction by Suming, everyone in attendance seemed to understand, but their expressions suggested they were still somewhat baffled. Since they had never encountered it before, Suming moved the laptop from Mrs. Tong to in front of himself and casually keyed in a URL, then pressed Enter.

The computer was connected to the projector in the meeting room, and as soon as Suming hit the Enter key, a window popped up on the large screen of the projector, drawing everyone's attention.

One second... two seconds... three seconds... after about a dozen seconds, the window was still a dark expanse with nothing visible. In one corner of the window, a small circle seemed to spin endlessly, displaying "connecting to the network..."

"Aye, our zoo's crappy network could use an upgrade," Suming rolled his eyes. He had only heard about connecting a local area network with a phone through a computer, but never the other way around. Today, he was pioneering by using his laptop to connect to the mobile wireless network on his phone.

The image on the screen flickered, revealing a large room with a cement floor, empty without any "furniture", surrounded not by walls but by rows of iron bars.

The employees present were all too familiar with this kind of 'room' - it was, of course, where the zoo animals lived.

In a corner of the room lay a large pile of hay, and amidst it, one could vaguely make out a skinny lion with split, yellow fur that almost matched the color of the hay, dozing off in the pile.

The lion was gaunt and lay still as if dead, hardly distinguishable from a dead dog. Probably unaware of being on screen, the skinny lion didn't exhibit any awareness of being a host and didn't even glance at the camera; it was just preoccupied with sleeping.

The idea of an online zoo was not first proposed by Suming; in fact, two or three large zoos in the country had already adopted this method, live streaming the lives of animals online. There had even been rumors about live streaming "baby-making", which sparked a heated debate on the internet.

Of course, that was just a topic of discussion. Broadcasting pornography on the internet and engaging in vulgarity is called trafficking in pornography and is illegal; but streaming animals mating doesn't have any legal ground to be considered illegal.

The scene on the screen was from Shanghai Zoo's Lion Pavilion.

After seeing the online live stream with their own eyes on the big screen, the older employees, including Mrs. Tong, immediately got a very direct impression of Suming's proposal.

Having plenty of experience, the people present were seasoned employees. Their unfamiliarity with live streaming platforms was due to lack of exposure, not lack of intelligence. Now that they had encountered it, they quickly began to express their own opinions and views.

"Hmm, this method is good, from the comfort of our homes we can have a complete view of all the animals, whether you want to watch tigers or lions, it's very convenient."

"I'm all for installing more cameras," Dong said cheerfully. "In the future, we can keep a clear eye on the dynamics throughout the zoo from the monitoring room."

"It also reduces the pressure on the caretakers. Yeah, it would be best to also install similar software on our phones, so that no matter where we are or what time it is, we can be aware of the animals we manage. While lessening work pressures, it would also improve efficiency, a win-win."

Mrs. Tong chuckled, "That's why they say technology is the primary productive force. Mr. Su is young and has a sharp mind, keeping up with the times, while we the elderly are just about to be out of the loop."

That was just a courteous remark; it was true that young people were quick-thinking and kept pace with modern times, but older people had precious experience accumulated over the years, having gone through countless events, lessons that young people could not match.

Seeing Mrs. Tong was polite but not entirely relaxed, seemingly worried, Suming asked with a smile, "Mrs. Tong, this is an internal meeting, all family here, please speak your mind."

The room quieted down for a moment as everyone turned their attention to Mrs. Tong.

"Well, it's not that I think your proposal is bad," Mrs. Tong clarified her stance before speaking. "This internet live streaming, it will indeed promote our zoo well, is convenient for management, and allows the public to enjoy watching the animals. But the question is, how does it make money?"

Mrs. Tong was being very practical! It wasn't that she was money-hungry, but rather because it was a very real concern.

Building an internet live streaming platform would definitely require the zoo to invest in software, networking, hardware, and other upfront costs; a sizable expense. And later, there would need to be dedicated technical staff maintaining the platform, possibly even customer service personnel, all of which cost money.

The zoo wasn't solely profit-driven, but it couldn't afford to promote science and public welfare at any cost. The days of getting by on government subsidies were over. If the zoo were to operate healthily for the long term, economic issues must be considered.

Let's not even talk about making money, at the very least we can't lose money, and ideally we could even solve the zoo's construction problems.

For instance, with the Fox Immortal project behind the hill, the donations collected are partly used to help impoverished children and are given in the name of charity; a small part goes towards supporting the staff managing the Fox Immortal and related charitable affairs; another part is invested in an entertainment company, used for developing the hill, killing three birds with one stone. Although Suming and the zoo employees don't directly profit from this, looking at it from another angle, saving a considerable amount of money has the same effect as making money.

However, the current online zoo, despite having a catchy hook, lacks a viable profit model, just as Mrs. Tong said.

Speaking of money, everyone at the meeting began to propose ideas.

"What about pay-per-view?" someone suggested, "Like, charge one yuan for an hour of viewing or something?"

"Or sell memberships, like a monthly subscription for thirty yuan."

"Why not bundle it with zoo admission tickets? For example, buy a ticket and get a few hours of viewing time... Hmm, that's not good either; it won't work for people out of town. Alternatively, buy viewing time to get a ticket?"

Everyone was offering ideas left and right, and soon a slew of suggestions were collected. Some sounded quite good, while others not so reliable. Suming didn't confirm or deny any directly but asked Mrs. Tong to record all these suggestions.

But Suming was very aware that, even the seemingly good suggestions were currently of no use.

Because even if they were good ideas, they were more like icing on the cake; they could be adopted if the live streaming platform was already popular, but relying on these ideas to make the platform hot was unlikely.

It's like lighting a fire; if the fire is already burning, adding firewood will make it blaze more fiercely, but having just the firewood without a source of ignition won't do any good, no matter how much you have.

The online animal zoo is well-liked but not making any money, and this isn't just a problem for Suming's zoo alone. Zoos that have opened online platforms all face this challenge.

Take the Shanghai Zoo's live stream, for example. This lion has been on screen for over an hour and is still lying there lazily; if you don't look closely, you might not even notice there's a lion there. Other animals are pretty much the same; some hide in their dens out of camera shot.

Even broadcasting a circus performance live doesn't guarantee viewers are willing to pay, let alone for animals, especially when most animals often lie there motionless.

No wonder that zoo started live streaming animals mating to produce offspring; they were driven to such measures by sheer desperation, as a last resort.

"Should I also have the animals mate every day? They're idle anyway. The lion's not too shabby; this fellow can go at it hundreds of times a day. A big bunch of snakes entwined and mating also seems pretty spectacular; axolotls, no, the axolotls don't have mates yet; well, when the boars arrive, they can perform live. I just don't know if the second brother is still up for it. When I left, he had already developed a psychological fear of mating..."

Although Suming was still sitting in the conference room with a subtle smile characteristic of a leader, his mind was filled with all sorts of R-rated scenarios. In the not-so-distant future on the zoo's giant screen, a wild mating frenzy—mating in the sky, on the trees, in the water, in the soil, in the cages... Explore more stories with empire

It would be perfect to have Mr. Zhao provide narration: Spring comes, and life awakens, it's mating season for the animals. Look over the wilderness, and you'll see animals joyfully mating everywhere...

"Deputy Director Su, Deputy Director... Su... what's wrong, what are you thinking about?" Mrs. Tong's voice was heard by his ear. She noticed Suming's vacant expression and the strange smile on his face, which made him look absentminded, and discretely tugged at him.

"Oh, oh, oh, no worries, let's continue the meeting."

Suming couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth a few times. He thought, despite all clarity of laws and country, even if broadcasting animals mating wasn't illegal, it might suddenly get censored...

"Let's decide on that, then. We'll establish the online streaming platform first and see how it goes. Afterward, based on the foundation of the platform and the actual situation, we can discuss the profit model," declared Suming in conclusion, smiling, "Fortunately, the zoo's financial situation is still pretty good. We can afford this investment, and even if it doesn't turn a profit, we could consider it charity work."

He said this to reassure the zoo employees, preparing for the worst in advance.

But in his mind, Suming never really thought that way. What a joke, if there's no profit, he'd rather be back at the Water Pavilion... strumming the... guqin than bother with such an effort. Rather than the animals spending time on a live stream, they might as well get some big sleep.

However, the specifics of how to do this were certainly worth planning out carefully.