The four newborn nutria cubs have a meal.

More than a year since last giving birth, a young nutria couple residing in a suburban park in Shanghai has welcomed four new cubs.

They are now nicely settled at "Blossom of Shanghai," an ecological park in Jinshan District, and produced two cubs last year. Early this year, four new cubs were born.

"At first, they were too timorous to meet us, and dodged amongst the compact vegetation as we approached. So we've tried our best to give them space. Surprisingly, they are living and multiplying here," Xu Gongwei, a worker from the park told Shanghai Daily, refering to the animals.

A nutria

These little plump semi-aquatic rodents often play with each other on the waterfront, which has become a popular scene in the park.

The park covers around 400,000 square meters in Daijing Village. It's a Shangri-La for local wildlife as it's home to more than 1,000 plants, which has created a complete ecological environment for animals.

"We offer them fruits during winter to make sure they can go through the cold weather. In other seasons, they are free to forage," Xu said.

A bird filmed by a shutterbug at "Blossom of Shanghai," an ecological park in suburban Jinshan District.

Egrets in the park.

Local villager Peng Wenzhong said he hadn't seen nutrias before they moved in last year. "It was such a surprise. We all welcome them. I hope they can live forever," he said.

Besides, egrets, hedgehogs, hares and other wildlife are also increasingly seen, which has attracted many shutterbugs, according to Bao Xiaodong from the park.

He added, "We've organized a variety of camping activities to get children closer to nature and raise their awareness about environmental protection."

The "Blossom of Shanghai" park.

An aerial view of the park.

Source: SHINE

Editor: Xu Qing