Beijing zoo under fire after tigers suspected to have been fed street dogs

A Beijing wildlife park on Monday denied feeding its tigers street dogs, saying the park had in fact merely put several dogs and wolves into a cage together.

A post which claimed Beijing’s Badaling Wildlife Park fed its tigers and wolves street dogs has been circulating online over recent days. Some netizens have also posted pictures showing the park put dogs and wolves together, calling for intervention from the relevant government department.

A manager at the park told the Beijing-based newspaper The Mirror that several months ago, they did indeed put several dogs and wolves in a cage together, but that they never harmed each other.

The manager denied feeding tigers street dogs and said that all meat the tigers eat is purchased through legal channels and passes through quarantine inspection.

“The homeless animals always contain several germs and so we won’t feed them to tigers,” said the manager.

In July, an online video showing a live donkey being thrown into an enclosure of hungry tigers in a different Chinese zoo triggered wide criticism.

The Yancheng Safari Park in Jiangsu Province apologized for any discomfort caused by the video and said a disgruntled shareholder was responsible for the incident.

Subsequently, the park erected a monument in memory of the “anonymous donkey.”

“I didn’t plan to feed the donkey to the tigers,” a shareholder involved in the incident, who prefers to remain anonymous, told thepaper.cn.

The park had been slapped with a lawsuit over a share dispute, which resulted in its funds and permits being frozen, he added.

The safari said that they placated the angry shareholders and will prevent repetition of such an incident.