A large number of animals, including 20 tigers, have died at a zoo in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui after being kept under inhumane conditions, an investigation revealed.
The news sparked widespread concern and outrage on Chinese social media and prompted the park to suspend operations for three days.
Located in the Yingdong District of Fuyang City, the privately owned Fuyang Wildlife Park, operated by Anhui Colorful Wildlife Park Co., is now at the center of an animal rights controversy. Reports suggest that the park had been engaging in the illegal breeding of Siberian tigers—a protected species in China—without appropriate licensing.
The zoo prematurely housed animals while still under construction within just half a year since bidding for the site, a report by China Philanthropist magazine claimed.
In April 2018, the zoo acquired 33 Siberian tigers, along with 11 black bears, five lions, three camels and other types of wildlife for a total of $350,000, without the necessary infrastructure to support them.
A Siberian tiger being kept in small, dark room at Fuyang Wildlife Park. China Philanthropist reported on May 13 that the privately owned park has been illegally breeding the protected animal. A Siberian tiger being kept in small, dark room at Fuyang Wildlife Park. China Philanthropist reported on May 13 that the privately owned park has been illegally breeding the protected animal. China Philanthropist
The situation deteriorated further when construction was halted due to land use conflicts, leaving the animals in limbo.
China Philanthropist learned from the company that had provided the park with the animals that since October 2019, 10 Siberian tigers had died, along with 10 out of the 11 tiger cubs born there, an adult giraffe and two giraffe calves, two lions, and a number of macaques and other smaller animals.
While on the park grounds, the reporter witnessed black bears and tigers trapped in cramped iron cages, as well as tigers and lions held in dark rooms. During the reporter’s May 10 visit, they reportedly saw animal corpses piled in a refrigerated room and animal cubs still preserved in a freezer.
State-owned news outlet The Paper cited Yingdong District’s forestry bureau as saying it had previously sent reporters to investigate the matter, but
