In order to meet the needs of biological resource protection and popular science education and give full play to the value of biological specimens, the Administration of Shennongjia National Park has launched the construction project of a wildlife specimen museum. On June 11, the reporter saw at the Scientific Research Institute of Shennongjia National Park that technicians were making insect specimens and preparing for the future exhibition in the museum.
On the evening of May 9, moonlight quietly filtered through the forest canopy, casting an almost mystical glow over the vast wilderness of Shennongjia. A four-member team—Kevin Messenger, an American professor at Nanjing Forestry University, along with Li Yecheng, Wang Qi and Benjamin Genter (or “Ben” for short)—set out from Yichang for a night survey along the Jiuchong-Songbai Road. Their eyes scanned every ditch and every pile of fallen leaves, like seasoned hunters in search of elusive prey.
On the morning of June 19th, Dr. Kevin Messenger, accompanied by his wife Li Yecheng and their friend Wang Qi, a coral expert from Guangxi University, attended the signing ceremony at Shennongjia National Park to officially appoint Dr. Messenger as a specialist in wildlife monitoring. In the afternoon, rather than venturing into the wild to search for snakes, they followed the arrangement of the CCTV production team for indoor shooting. Dr. Messenger held a snake in his hands and explained its habits while the CCTV staff filmed several shots.
We spent some time with experts and scholars involved, travelling with them, discussing with them in online groups and listening to interesting stories of plants and animals they told. We have broadened our horizons and learned a lot from them, especially, their reverence for science.。