LONDON: Animal rights activists and the Chinese government are not typically working together, but recent reports on abuse in China's zoos has brought the advocates and the government together in demanding better conditions, or the zoos could be shut down altogether. The government in Beijing has warned zoo owners that recent coverage of abuse, widespread neglect, beatings and the illegal sale of wine and soup made from the bones of endangered tigers has gone too far. Beijing said that if zoos do not implement and effort to “clean up” the zoos, they could face being shut down. Officials said zoos must stop serving wild animal products and holding wildlife performances. Inspections will be carried out to see if zoos are complying, said the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The Hong Kong-based animal welfare group Animals Asia Foundation released a report in August that said bears in Chinese zoos were regularly whipped and beaten with sticks, while elephants were prodded with metal hooks, and tigers and lions were defanged and declawed, causing them chronic pain. Earlier this year, 11 rare Siberian tigers died at a wildlife park in China's frozen north-east and zoo keepers there said they didn't have enough funding to feed or take care of them properly. “If they don't have enough funding, what are they doing keeping animals at all,” Xi Yuan-li, a Chinese animal activist in Guangzhou, told Bikya Masr via telephone. She argued that the excuse many developing countries give on animal welfare “is a cop-out to the real situation that faces animals.” Rights groups said the zoo might have been selling the tiger skins and bones on the black market. Sales of tiger bone, penis, pelts and other parts are illegal in China but persist because some consumers believe the products boost virility or can cure ailments from convulsions to skin disease. The housing ministry said zoos should provide adequate food and shelter for their animals, halt all sales of wildlife products in zoo restaurants or stores and stop staging animal performances. It said zoos could be shut down or be cited if they disobey the guidelines during the three-month inspection period that began last week. “We need more work to be done and hopefully the Chinese government is not just giving lip service to the zoo owners because these animals deserve better,” added Yuan-li. BM
