An animal trainer at Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo is being investigated by ecological authorities after he livestreamed himself abusing a tiger under his care.
The series of videos, which were uploaded to livestreaming app Kuaishou, depict the man pulling the tiger’s tail and ears, lifting its hind legs and even riding it.
Onlookers can be heard off-screen shouting things like “He’s dragging the tiger!” and “It’s so cool!”
An outraged Kuaishou user spotted one of the videos and reposted it to her Weibo account on Sunday, pleading for help. “The tiger was bleeding, and the man still grabbed its tail,” she wrote. “He’s simply using those animals as tools to gain popularity.”
A park manager confirmed that the videos were shot in the park but claims that the trainer and tiger were playing a game and that neither party was in any danger. The manager, surnamed Yang, went on to say that the trainer has raised the now-two-year-old tiger since its birth and that man and ward are very close. “The young tiger is strong and nimble. It’s very docile with its zookeeper,” she said in a statement.
The wildlife park, located in Xiuwen County near the Guizhou provincial capital, raises Siberian and white tigers and puts on popular performances featuring black bears. While raising and training animals has the apparent aim of improving their welfare, Chinese zoos and circuses often receive criticism for their mistreatment and neglect of the animals under their care.
Any behavior that causes discomfort or stress in an animal has been outlawed since 2010, says He Yong of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in China.
In an article that has since been removed from online outlet thecover.cn, Xiuwen County’s Ecological Civilization Construction office promised to send investigators to Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo to look into the case.
This is not the first time that tigers in China have made the news in recent months. In a now-infamous incident, a woman exited her car in the tiger enclosure of a Beijing safari park and was mauled. The woman survived, but her mother, who ran after her daughter, was killed.
And in January, a man entered a zoo through the tiger pit to avoid paying the entrance fee. He was mauled to death, and the animal was shot and killed by zoo employees.
[Images via QQ]
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