Yang Qi was a man of his word.
After cleaning the Horned Eagle Cage, he headed straight for the administration building.
He first found Jiang Kai, the Minister of Animal Management, and stated his business in the office.
He was requesting permission to conduct formal, controlled, outdoor adaptive flight training for the semi-wild Beaked Eagle, Qi Zai.
To be more persuasive, Yang Qi cleverly wove together the theoretical knowledge he had recently learned from Song Chunfang—animal behavior, ecology, raptor conservation, and the like—into a "professional analysis."
He started with "the importance of satisfying a large raptor's instinctive need to fly to maintain its physical and mental health and reduce stereotypical behaviors."
Then he moved on to how "gradually expanding its range of activity in a controlled environment helps establish the Beaked Eagle's sense of belonging and homing instinct for the Zoo's back mountain territory."
