The ‘unconventional’ romance between a ram and a deer

The unlikely soulmates spice up life at a Chinese zoo with their interspecies love story

Chunzi the deer licks its love Changmao the ram. Their unlikely romance has stayed strong despite a Chinese zoo’s attempt to split them up. Photo: YouTube
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A dashing male sheep and a comely deer are being likened to Romeo and Juliet, but their forbidden love story takes place in a Chinese zoo, not Verona. Changmao, or Long Hair, the ram and Chunzi the doe met and fell in love at a wildlife park in southwest China last year, but it was this week that their love story made news, after handlers unsuccessfully attempted to separate the interspecies pair. Here, a brief guide to their “unconventional” romance:

So, how did they get together?
Long Hair and Chunzi first felt the spark a year ago. They share a pen about the size of a basketball court with five other deer and two sheep. Chunzi was intrigued by Long Hair from a young age. The feeling was mutual. “Chunzi is the prettiest deer among the six,” says zoo keeper Liu Gencheng. “She was chased by other bucks. But Chunzi loves playing with Long Hair the most. The two have spent a lot of time together since they were little.”

Then what happened?
Love blossomed. Over the past year, Liu repeatedly witnessed the two mating. “I’ve seen that many times,” says Liu. “I know they usually do it in the morning.” But it was only a couple weeks ago that a zoo veterinarian witnessed their passion for the first time. Dr. Liu Lingxiang was shocked. “My colleagues and I have never seen sex between two different species of animals,” he says. “This is hard to believe.” The unusual pairing attracted national media attention and spawned a micro blog about their relationship on the zoo’s website. But not everyone believed they should be together.

What was the public’s reaction?
Many gave Chunzi and Long Hair their blessing. “When I first learned the news, I thought this might be a joke,” says Cai Yue, an animal lover living in Beijing who follows the affair online. “But when I saw these photos, the love in their eyes touched my heart.” Others, especially animal experts, were less supportive. “Sex between different species of animals is not natural,” says Long Yongcheng with Nature Conservancy, a group based in the U.S.

Did the two have any relations with their own species?
Yes. Last weekend, a baby lamb was born to Long Hair and the zoo’s only female sheep. With the new arrival, the zoo manager decided that Chunzi and Long Hair should be separated, and that the ram should form a traditional relationship with his baby and its mother. “The baby sheep needs care from both parents,” the manager said. “Since the sheep and the deer are not able to have kids, we decided to separate them.”

How did the separation go?
Not well. When handlers tried to separate the two last Friday, it played out “like a dramatic scene from a love story.” Chunzi tried to lick Long Hair through the fence, while Long Hair tried to harm his baby and the female sheep with his horns. “It scared us,” says Li Li, a zoo staff member. After just a couple hours of the drama, the zoo relented and reunited the star-crossed animals. “We won’t do anything to separate them,” Li says. “They will be together.”

Sources: Agence France-Presse, BBC News, China Daily

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‘Like Crazy’: Keen love story revives passion

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It’s rare to encounter an on-screen couple that exudes the same vibrant passion audiences may expect from a real couple in love, yet the actors in Drake Doremus’ “Like Crazy” depict a modern story that feels as real as a documentary.

Expert acting and intuitive cinematography create a moving story focused on the constant strain in long-distance relationships.

Anna (Felicity Jones), a British student in Los Angeles, falls in love with Jacob (Anton Yelchin), an American, after taking a class with him. Their romance is beautiful and delicate until she foolishly decides to overstay her visa after they graduate, thus plummeting the couple into a long-distance, on-and-off relationship that spans several years.

Charming and attractive, Jones and Yelchin are impressively natural in roles unlike any they have played before. The two radiate youthful innocence and certainty throughout the film. There is nothing extraordinary about the way they fall in love — the film’s focus is instead on the beauty in the quiet moments they share. Many of the scenes have no dialogue. In one, the two stare at each other in amazement and write notes back and forth in a notebook rather than speaking. Their movements seem instinctive, adeptly revealing their addiction to each other and the constant ache and anxiety they feel when they are thrust apart.

The handheld camera style contributes to the natural feel of the movie, helping the film feel well-paced despite its compression of several years. Shortly after they meet, Doremus offers a breezy montage where the lovers wander Los Angeles, clinging to each other and laughing in the most convincing, heartbreaking way. The camera mimics their swaying movements, and the occasional jump cut allows the audience to focus on key moments and facial expressions. When they are in different countries, the scenes are set in more contrasting open, public spaces where Anna and Jacob often appear uncomfortable — their deflated voices in their phone tag voicemails serving cleverly as audio.

Though viewers aren’t provided with a great deal of backstory for either character, the intense “here and now” of Anna and Jacob’s lives during the course of their relationship is enough to make audiences ache for them. “Like Crazy” beautifully captures the tension in wanting deeply, yet not knowing how to fully attain that love.

“Like Crazy” was directed by Drake Doremus, and written by Doremus and Ben York Jones.

4 out of 4 stars.

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