A small wildcat's flattened and rounded face, with ears set low on the sides of its head and gray fur interspersed with black dots, is Qi Xinzhang's profile picture on social media.

The adorable look of the cat-stocky build and fluffiness-makes it a favorite for visitors in the Xining Wildlife Park located on a mountain in the capital of Northwest China's Qinghai province.

The Pallas's cat, also known as manul, inhabits mountains and steppe grasslands, and its range includes high-altitude Central Asia. It is among the national protected animal species in China.

Internet viewers pour in when Qi, 38, deputy director of the park, live streams the animal's daily activities in the park through social media.

He manages to stream once a week, taking viewers on a tour of the park and dispensing his expertise relating to animal science and conservation. The park, with 42 keepers, is home to more than 1,100 animals of more than 100 species.

"It looks like a cat, and of a similar size," Qi said. "Its cute but grumpy facial expression makes people feel that it is always looking down on everyone. Young people love it."

Pallas's cats bred in captivity in Qi's park were cubs rescued from the wild due to injuries. The park also takes in the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center, which rescues wild animals.

Residents are often the first to discover an injured animal, and they usually report it to the local authorities as soon as possible. When the animals are cured, they are released back into the wild. If their conditions do not allow this they are kept in the park, he said.

To draw more public attention to the species, since 2018 Qi has been naming each of the Pallas's cats in the park and telling the world their stories.

Over many years of a career that has taken him from being a keeper to deputy director, he has cared deeply about the welfare of animals, and he has thought a lot about the functions of a zoo.

"A zoo is more than a tourist attraction and should be a wildlife conservation and education institution. It should guide people to see nature in a correct way and protect it, as ultimately it's for the protection of human being itself," he said.

He cites the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees Jane Goodall as his creed: "Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved.

"Few people recognized the cat before, and when they saw it in a zoo they didn't care about it," Qi said, adding that as its popularity has increased, many tourists have come to see it.