(CN) Wildlife park/zoo live animal feeding shows

[Guest guest]

From a blog post on CSR Asia, 6 October 2006:

 

Tigers attack cow in zoo tourist spectacle

 

According to the blog post, on October 3 a zoo in Nanjing let two tigers

attack a cow in order to provide a realistic wildlife experience. The

spectacle was put on as a “tourist attraction " .

 

Numerous people, particuarly those with children, complained to the zoo that

it was a violent and inappropriate act.

 

This story has receved fairly widespread and critical coverage in the

mainland:

http://news.baidu.com/ns?word=%22%C4%CF%BE%A9%D5%E4%D6%E9%C8%AA%D2%B0%C9%FA%B6%A\

F%CE%EF%D4%B0%22+cont:1884138847 & cl=1 & tn=news & rn=30

 

A more graphic picture of the event:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2006-10/04/content_5169061.htm

 

A report in the Daily Mail shows the same thing occurring at a wild life

park in Changchung.

 

http://www.csr-asia.com/index.php?p=7894

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-More Chinese articles:

 

http://www.cqcb.com/gb/map/2006-10/05/content_1112509.htm

 

http://cache.sounews.ynet.com/cache2.aspx?url=68G74G74G70G3AG2FG2FG77G77G77G2EG6\

4G6EG6BG62G2EG63G6FG6DG2EG63G6EG2FG6EG65G77G73G2FG32G30G30G36G31G30G30G37G2FG30G\

30G30G36G33G36G2EG68G74G6DG6CG

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-Getty Photos:

 

Changchun Wildlife Park

 

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/FrameSet.aspx?s=EventImagesSearch\

State%7c0%7c1%7c0%7c28%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c1%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c72038572%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c\

0%7c%7c%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0 & p=1 & tag=6

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-The Daily Mail article:

 

Live animals thrown to the tigers - for the amusement of the crowd

Daily Mail

by NICK MCDERMOTT

2nd October 2006

 

These images of a ferocious tiger sinking its four inch teeth into

defenceless prey are not digitally created scenes from an upcoming Hollywood

blockbuster.

 

In an all too real display of its savage nature, the orange and

black-striped killing machine is seen dispatching live farmyard animals

placed in its enclosure by handlers while visitors look on at the

feeding frenzy.

 

The brutal scenes, reminiscent of the bloodthirsty displays in Rome's

colosseum where animals were pitted against one another for the crowd's

amusement, are being played out at a wildlife park in China.

 

According to officials at Changchung Wildlife Park, staff are training the

big cats to kill live prey in order to hone their hunting skills.

 

But animal rights campaigners questioned the park's motives and said the

practice of feeding goats and calves to caged tigers raised serious welfare

concerns.

 

A spokesman for the RSPCA said: 'We would question the motives behind

feeding live animals to tigers in a non-wild environment. It raises concerns

over animal welfare on behalf of the livestock being fed to these tigers.

 

'Throwing live animals to caged tigers doesn't re-create anything that

happens in the wild, if that is their aim.'

 

Tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, with only 6,000

remaining in the wild. In the past century alone, three sub-species of tiger

has become extinct die to illegal hunting and a continued loss of habitat.

 

China, which has faced fierce criticism over its animal rights record, is

under renewed pressure to improve protection after hosting the so-called

Animal Olympics in Shanghai this week.

 

The event, in its fourth year, showcased a boxing bout between an Australian

kangaroo and a man dressed in a clown suit. During the fight, the marsupial

appears to reel backwards after receiving a right hook from its human

opponent.

 

The kangaroo was just one of 300 'athletes' taking part in the annual event

at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, which also featured an elephant carrying

the Olympic torch and various animals - including zebras and mountain goats

- put through a series of events such as hurdles and races.

 

In July, the Daily Mail reported on the barbaric sport of horse fighting

where cheering crowds in South West China took bets on which stallion would

win a bloody battle.

 

Photos:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/galleries/index.html?in_gallery_id=8759 & in_page\

_id=1055

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id\

=408053 & in_page_id=1811

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-UPI article:

 

Tigers in China fed live farm animals

 

LONDON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Animal rights activists in Britain say they are

outraged over reports a zoo in China is feeding tigers live goats and calves

while visitors watch.

 

Officials at Changchun Wildlife Park say the move is designed to hone the

big cats' hunting skills but opponents disagree, the Daily Mail reports.

 

" Throwing live animals to caged tigers doesn't recreate anything that

happens in the wild, if that's their aim, " a spokesman for the Royal Society

for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the Daily Mail.

 

Criticized in the past for its record, China has been urged to improve

protection for animals, the newspaper said.

 

UPI

===============================

-Articles from 2005 and 1999 about how live animals will no longer be fed to

carnivores in most zoos/parks in China..when spectators are present..:

 

Chinese Zoos Ban Feeding Live Animals to Carnivores

March 16, 2005

 

BEIJING, China (ENS)- Live horses, calves and oxen will no longer be fed to

carnivores in the majority of China's zoos and animal exhibits, at least

when visitors are present.

 

Representatives from 22 of China's 30 animal reserves and zoos meeting

Saturday in Kunming agreed that the spectacle of tigers or lions tearing at

a live horse has a negative psychological effect on visitors.

 

Delegates to the meeting signed an agreement that their carnivores will be

fed only carcasses or pieces of meat when visitors are watching.

 

All of the reserves and zoos that ratified the agreement have links to the

state. Any facilities that break the pledge will lose their operating

licenses.

 

The live animal feedings have been a popular attraction for visitors, but

animal welfare groups and parents have been upset by the bloody scenes.

Research on zoo feeding sessions with live prey by teachers and students

from four Beijing universities reported by the " South China Morning Post "

found that while numbers of visits peaked at feeding times, many visitors

were distressed by the sufferings of the prey animals.

 

The researchers cited an incident in Harbin in northeast Heilongjiang

province when a tearful young zoo visitor reacted to a dying ox twitching on

the ground after being bitten by more than 10 tigers. " Why hasn't anyone

tried to save it? Why is everyone ignoring it? " the child asked his mother.

 

But some of the reserve and zoo directors who signed the agreement said the

new policy would make it harder for them to survive financially.

 

" If we have no money, it'll be impossible for us to continue, " an unnamed

park director was quoted by Yunnan media as saying.

 

Animal protection groups were pleased with the agreement. Zhang Li of the

International Fund for Animal Welfare's Chinese branch said, " We welcome the

passing of the industry agreement and hope animal welfare protection will

also become enshrined in mainland law. "

 

Beijing is revising the 1988 Wild Animal Protection Law to add animal

welfare sections, but no date for release of the revisions has been made

public.

 

When the animal parks are not open, feeding of live prey to the lions,

tigers, leopards and bears will still be allowed.

 

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2005/2005-03-16-04.asp

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China To Stop Feeding Of Live Animals To

Captive Carnivores

11-17-99

 

BEIJING, China (ENS) - The Chinese government is drafting new regulations to

ban the feeding of live animals to carnivores in wildlife parks and breeding

centers. The live animal feeding brought revenue into the wildlife parks as

spectators paid to witness cows, pigs and chickens eaten alive.

 

The government statement was made after the exposure of abuse of animals in

the Xiongshen Bear and Tiger Entertainment City in Guilin, China. An

investigation by the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) revealed that park owners

were routinely feeding live cows and pigs to captive tigers as part of a

wildlife spectacle.

 

" It was heartbreaking to see the badly injured ox crying out in pain and

struggling to its feet time after time, only to be brought down again, " said

Jill Robinson, AAF founder, who witnessed the incident at Guilin park.

 

Visitors to the park could also purchase live chickens which were then tied

onto poles and dropped into the tiger and lion pits. Videotape evidence

shows many animals suffering long and painful deaths.

 

Zhang Jianlong, director of the Department of Wild Fauna and Flora

Conservation in the State Forestry Administration, said all feeding as

entertainment had been stopped.

 

The Chinese government move came after talks with directors of the

International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Animals Asia Foundation. Zhang

said further investigations of any illegal activity in the park will be

carried out, the two groups said in a joint statement.

 

The wildlife park was also found guilty of openly selling tiger bone wine

and tiger meat, which is a blatant violation of China's Wildlife Law and a

1993 government ban forbidding the trade in tiger parts and products.

 

Grace Gabriel, IFAW's China director, said the practice of feeding live

domestic animals to carnivores is cruel, lacks any scientific base and has

no education value. " Under the pretence of wildlife training, the parks'

only goal is for profit, " she said.

 

Live feeding activities at Beijing Badaling Wild Animal World generated an

international outcry earlier this year and prompted China's president Jiang

Zemin to call for an end to the brutal practices in that park.

 

One tourist quoted by the U.S. animal rights group People for the Ethical

Treatment of Animals in their appeal against the practice described his

visit as the " most exciting thing I have ever seen. All the blood

everywhere. It was more exciting than Disneyworld. "

 

Crowd watches animals at a Chinese zoo. (Photos courtesy Tiger Information

Center) Feeding time at Beijing Badaling Wild Animal World centers around an

electrified, coliseum-style enclosure at the foot of the Great Wall where up

to 600 people watch as domesticated calves are led into a ring to be killed

and eaten by a pride of lions. The crowds, which include small children,

cheer as the animals scream in agony.

 

Representatives from animal protection organizations who have visited the

park report that when the lions show a lack of interest in the calves, park

employees use a truck to herd the calves toward the pride in an attempt to

trigger an attack. Because the lions are captive, their hunting skills are

inadequate, making the kill nothing more than a prolonged game.

 

Chen Runsheng, deputy general secretary of the China Wildlife Conservation

Association, a government related organization, said the government is

strongly against the cruel treatment of wild animals and is also against the

live feeding of large animals. He emphasized that " the Chinese government

stands by its pledge since 1993 to forbid the trade of tiger and rhino

products.

 

http://ens.lycos.com/e ns/nov99/1999L-11-16-01.html