Parrots bring happiness to dedicated caregiver

Lin Zhaoming lives a lonely but contented life at Guangzhou Wildlife Rescue Center

The parrots imitate Lin Zhaoming's words - "Good morning", "Don't make so much noise" - every morning when he arrives to clean their cages at the Guangzhou Wildlife Rescue Center.

He laughs as he feeds them, and the parrots fly onto his shoulders in turn, imitating his pet phrases and gently pecking his ears.

"At this moment, I think I'm the happiest person in the world," said the 41-year-old, who has worked as an animal breeder for more than two decades.

Lin moved to the center's 43-hectare animal quarantine and recuperation area - in the forested, mountainous north of Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou - a couple of years ago to cut down on the time it took to travel to work.

He usually visits his wife and teenage daughter just once a month because he is based about 40 kilometers from the city center, and they live in Foshan's Shunde district, southwest of Guangzhou. "But I never feel lonely, as I have plenty of animal friends," he said.

More than 22,000 injured animals he has fed and treated have been released back to the wild in the past five years.

He treats the animals as friends and takes good care of them, carefully bandaging their wounds and nursing them after surgery. If the animals are not injured, he feeds them carefully and organizes training so they can be returned to the wild as quickly as possible.

"The animals regard me as a reliable friend," Lin said.

He has built up a remarkable rapport with the animals at his center over the years. Last year, when an old macaw he cared for died, he said he cried for a couple of days.

"Nowadays, I still feel tears in my eyes when I recall the macaw that could mimic my accent so strikingly," Lin said. "Many of the animals waiting for me in the cages seem very happy when I arrive every morning to clean the cages, water and feed them, and check their health."

Lin said he wakes before 7 am every day to the sound of birdsong. He cleans up the food scraps and excrement in the cages before sterilizing them and then carefully monitors the animals' movements, appearance and droppings for signs of ill health.

If anything untoward is noticed, samples are collected and sent for laboratory tests. After that, Lin prepares the first meal of the day for the animals, preparing different food for different species.

Lin's center is home to about 300 animals under State protection, including more than 100 birds, and he has to prepare between 35 and 40 kilograms of cereals and mix them according to set formulas to feed them twice a day. For the carnivores, Lin also prepares chicken and beef.

Lin adds medicine or supplements to the food of animals that are ill or require additional nourishment.

"For example, the animals will need extra vitamins and trace elements when they are in heat or it's breeding season," Lin said.

After a short rest at noon, Lin patrols the outside of the cages for a couple of hours, looking for dead animals in order to prevent the spread of diseases. If he finds a dead animal, he sends it for testing.

Lin then prepares the second meal for the animals before finishing his regular workday at 6 pm.

The center accepts and treats all the wildlife seized or found in Guangzhou, so Lin sometimes has to work overtime. He is also occasionally sent to collect injured animals at night, or to collect those seized from smugglers, traders and restaurants operators in nighttime raids by the authorities. He will also get up at night to calm the animals during thunderstorms.

Lin's regular leisure time entertainment is reading books, because there is no Wi-Fi or television at the center. When he misses his family, he phones his daughter and tells her interesting stories about the animals.

Wang Jianrong, deputy director of Guangzhou's wild animal and plant management office, said an animal breeder not only has to have love for the animals but also patience, and Li had shown he can tolerate the loneliness.

"Lin is the only person who insists on working in the center," he said. "Many university graduates have chosen to leave after working in the center for a short time due to the poor working conditions."