‘Cruel and distressing’ animal conditions exposed at China’s oldest zoo
African elephants confined to ‘tiny prison cells’ without access to water. Polar bears locked indoors with nothing but a ‘dirty’ pool. Dogs stuffed into cramped cages.
These are some of the distressing scenes confronting tourists at Beijing Zoo, where concerns are mounting over the treatment and welfare of the animals.
Edina Delic, from Dublin, spoke with Metro about the conditions in China’s oldest public zoo in the Xicheng District of the capital that left her in floods of tears.
The 29-year-old was on a holiday in Beijing when she visited the park – an area of 80 hectares that is also known as a centre for zoological research that studies and breeds rare animals from across the world.
‘It is very famous for the Panda House and I had never seen pandas before,’ she explained.
What Edina witnessed inside has left her ‘distraught’ and she still tears up as she recalls the suffering of the animals.
An enclosure with monkeys near the entrance drew her attention first. She said: ‘The number of monkeys was crazy and they did not look in the best condition, judging by their coats.
‘We were then totally taken back when we moved onto the polar bear – in a totally empty enclosure indoors with nothing but a dirty pool. The bear was sleeping and looked very unwell.’
Edina then witnessed African elephants ‘segregated into individual cages’, which she estimated allowed them to take two steps in each direction.
Asian elephants – which are significantly smaller that African ones – were also in the same conditions.
‘This totally broke me. These beautiful giants are pacing these tiny jail cells with not even water in the enclosure,’ she described the conditions.
‘One of the smaller elephants was smashing this wooden ball against the thick metal bars in clear distress looking for attention. I burst into tears and had to leave… I walked out from the building and was so distraught by what I just witnessed.’
Distressed, Edina approached a zoo keeper and asked her if the elephantsever leave their cages.
She was informed that the outdoor enclosure is currently under renovation.
Inside the children’s section of the zoo, there wasa row of about 15 cages and large kennels, each stuffed with various dog breeds – Dalmatian, Shiba, Australian Shepard, Cockapoos, Huskies and Corgis.
Some of them had their fur dyed, and Edina said many of them had mange and a range of eye infections. She added that children could select one of the puppies to play with.
Edina described their health as ‘gut-wrenching’, adding: ‘I couldn’t even bear a picture of these beautiful little babies.
‘They tried to bark but their vocal cords had been clipped as it wasn’t even close to a bark. You can imagine how much they would have been barking in these conditions.
‘I left with such a heavy heart. I am crying again recalling it all.’
Metro discussed some of the disturbing behaviour the animals showed in the videos taken by Edina with Dr Audrey Delsink, from Humane World for Animals Africa.
Elephants, for example, are long-lived, highly social animals who require extensive home ranges to meet their needs. On average, they walk up to 30 miles per day.
Dr Delsink said that when confined in small spaces, they suffer ‘extensive’ clinical, physiological, behavioural and neural problems because of a lack of exercise and mental stimulation, amounting to a trauma response.
This often manifests itself as repetitive behaviours such as head-swaying, bobbing, resting and banging against a wall, and has been suggested to even be a coping-mechanism for stress.
She said: ‘It can lead to poor physical health and ailments and reduced life expectancy. Such behaviours can be seen in elephants often within a few weeks to months of being in captivity.’
It is estimated that up to 85% of elephants kept in zoos and 100% of those kept in circuses engage in such behaviour.
Dr Peter Li, policy expert, stressed it is ‘not unheard of’ for some zoos in China to dye the fur of dogs to look like other animals.
‘This doesn’t align with the ethical treatment of dogs or any animal but alas many zoos across China have woefully inadequate standards in terms of animal welfare and wellbeing,’ he told Metro.
There have also been recent examples of Chow Chows being dyed black and white to look like pandas, and orange and black to look like tigers.
Dr Li explained that zoos in China do not operate under the internationally-recognised standards.
Some Western practices have been implemented, but the conditions in a typical zoo in China fall short, he said.
‘Chinese zoos are a huge business empire where animals are commodities for profit,’ the expert added.
‘Many zoos are rogue facilities with no educational or welfare element at all, and some even subject animals to cruel and demeaning circus-like acts.
‘Instead of being truly educational facilities, they in fact do the opposite because the animals can be so depressed and inactive in their barren and small environments, that the paying public see nothing of the true nature of wild animals as they would behave in the wild where they belong.’
Metro has contacted the China Zoo Association (CZA) for a comment.
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