China: Shanghai habitat gardens: pushing urban renewal with the return of wildlife
One night last year, I saw a raccoon dog roaming a riverside lawn in my suburban neighborhood in Qingpu District. I told the story to my friends living downtown, and they were amazed.
By Wang Yong
Shine
2022-10-01
Excerpt:
A habitat garden at the Xiehe Jiayuan neighborhood in Changning District looks like a fairytale land with its wildlife and ecology.
“Five raccoon dogs have settled here,” a man in his 70s said proudly as he briefed me about the growing biodiversity at a habitat garden in downtown Shanghai last week.
“Do they belong to one family?” I asked.
“Two families,” he replied. “We’ve been watching them for some time.”
He said he was one of the resident volunteers who regularly help maintain the habitat garden at the Xiehe Jiayuan neighborhood in Changning District. Xiehe Jiayuan means “a harmonious community” in Chinese.
“They’re not easy to spot during the day,” he added. “They ‘come home’ at night.”
He emphasized the word “home” by pointing to a bushy corner of the garden where the five raccoon dogs had found shelter for a stable life in the city.
