Shenyang’s Huashang Morning Post reports the death of 11 Siberian tigers: “The cause for death are mostly heart failure, kidney failure, haemorrhagic enteritis, experts say that main cause of death was malnutrition.”
The wildlife park has since stopped operating, the newspaper reports.
The front page lists the deaths and cause of deaths:
11 Siberian tigers
Date of death and cause
November 11, 2009, 1 dead, lung abscess
November 26, 2009, 1 dead, heart failure
December 24, 2009, 1 dead, kidney failure
December 28, 2009, 1 dead, kidney failure
January 5, 2010, 1 dead, haemorrhagic enteritis
January 23, 2010, 1 dead, haemorrhagic enteritis
January 30, 2010, 1 dead, heart failure
January 31, 2010, 1 dead, nephritis and kidney failure
February 8, 2010, 1 dead, myocarditis
February 14, 2010, 1 dead, extreme malnutrition
February 27, 2010, 1 dead, septicaemia
(Note: On November 13, 2009, the two tigers who were killed during their attacks on people were not included)
Nowadays there are still around 30 tigers in the wildlife park, we are worried that…
A combination of reporters for the newspaper － Li Yi (李毅), Li Meng (李萌), Jing Miao (经淼), Guo Lei (郭蕾), Duan Fangyu (段芳宇) and Yao Qidong (姚琦东) － reported inside the wildlife park and interviewed the deputy Party secretary of the Bingchuan Wildlife Park, Wu Xi (武席), about whether the tigers starved to death:
Did the 11 tigers starve to death?
In terms of this issue, the deputy Party Secretary of Bingchuan Wildlife Park emphasized that the tigers didn’t starve to death.
But the reality is, at present the 30 or so tigers left have not eaten, not even chicken, for two days…
Eye-witness account from the park: seven or eight monkeys stare at this reporter.
Yesterday afternoon, this reporter went back to Shenyang Bingchuan Wildlife Park.
This reporter enters the empty park from the side door. After walking around for 10 minutes this reporter didn’t spot any park employees, the path is covered with a thick layer of ice, there’s also some accumulated snow on the side of the road. The only house inside the compound is out of use.
Inside the park, this reporter saw camels and deers roaming on barren floors, their bodies obviously on the skinny side.
Around the area where monkeys are kept, this reporter saw that only one monkey was out in the open. Suddenly, six or seven monkeys came over － running towards where this reporter was standing. After this, these monkeys stared vacantly at this reporter…
When the reporter wanted to keep on investigating, a couple of men got down from a small truck and said to this reporter, “We’re closed, you should leave!”
This reporter saw that in the back of the small truck there were eight red plastic bags, with a couple of chickens in each bag. Whether these chickens are for feeding tigers, the men didn’t say. All they did was point to the official building inside the park, “Go and ask the leader!”
The cause of death: “If you ask me again I will put down the phone.”
Yesterday afternoon, the reporter contacted the deputy Party Secretary Wu Xi.
Reporter: Is it enough for the tigers left in the park to only eat chicken carcasses?
Wu Xi: They are able to sustain their living.
Reporter: Some outside parties think that these tigers were starved to death.
Wu Xi: The tigers were not starved to death. It was caused by a combination of factors, such as malnutrition, illness, and the cold weather.
Reporter: But if they don’t eat then their physical health will decline, and nutrition values will also deteriorate….
Wu Xi: (Interrupts the reporter) Didn’t I just say, the cause of the tigers’ death are due to combined factor, if you keep asking me I’m going to hang up!
Almost 30 tigers have been hungry for two days, there isn’t even chicken to eat
Reporter: How many days has it is been since the tigers ate?
Wu Xi: Two days, yesterday and today (10th and 11th). The employees are on strike, so no-one has been feeding them.
Reporter: Can’t other people feed them?
Wu Xi: Only professional keepers can feed tigers. The park owes people their wages, so they’ve stopped working. In the past the Breeding Department still came to work, but now even they aren’t working.
Reporter: So the tigers are just going hungry?
Wu Xi: A way of solving it will have to be thought of tomorrow, let’s see what we can do to feed them.
Reporter: What is the chicken on the back of the truck for?
Wu Xi: For feeding tigers.
Reporter: Is that left over chicken, or chicken that hasn’t been fed to the tigers yet?
Wu Xi: The road is slippery, it’s hard for the vehicle to get near the tiger enclosure… we’ll think of a way to feed them tomorrow.
Reporter: Didn’t you say that only professional keepers could feed them?
Wu Xi: But we can’t watch as the tigers go hungry, will have to think of something tomorrow…
The cause of the tigers’ death: “Lack of tap water in the tigers’ enclosure?”
Reporter: What really were the “combined causes” for the tigers’ death?
Wu Xi: We submitted report forms to the Wildlife Preservation Center, some of the tigers were ill, but the enclosure didn’t have any tap water. Immune systems were down in the cold weather, so some of the tigers didn’t make it through.
Reporter: What does “there was no tap water in the tigers’ enclosure” mean?
Wu Xi: In the past the tigers were allowed to roam so there was a lot of space for their movement. But after that incident last November, they have now entered tiger enclosures, and their movements are definitely not as free as before.
Reporter: Is this one of the reasons the tigers died?
Wu Xi: For specific reasons you should ask the Preservation Center, they know everything.
Bingchuan Wildlife Park: “We didn’t do anything wrong”
Reporter: This time 11 tigers died in the space of three months. When only a few had died, why didn’t you take measures?
Wu Xi: When they were ill they were treated straight away. We gave them injections － you can ask the Preservation Center, there are records for their treatment.
Reporter: But so many have died.
Wu Xi: It’s not as if they died suddenly. We treated them, there was a process of treatment.
Reporter: Some people say that the park did something wrong, because 11 tigers died in three months.
Wu Xi: The ordinary folk can say whatever they like, why do you care what they say?
Reporter: Do you think the park was wrong?
Wu Xi: We didn’t do anything wrong, if we can’t treat (a sick tiger) then what can we do?
Reporter: Apart from waiting, what else can the park do?
Wu Xi: The park has already reported to the parent company and to the relevant departments in the government. We can only report to the above, and communicate with the employees, but the employees won’t listen, what can we do? Just tough it out.
Reporter: The problem now is that no-one is feeding the animals…
Wu Xi: Have to think of anther plan.
After the tigers died, experts from Shenyang Agricultural University will investigate the illness to verify the cause of death; at the same time, the animal hospital staff at the park will dissect the bodies, separating the flesh, bones and skin.
The bones, skin and other valuable things will be frozen.
If the cause of death wasn’t because of infectious diseases, the flesh will be used to feed other animals. If the tigers died from infectious diseases, the flesh will be treated by deep burials etc.
- Huashang Morning Post (Chinese): 11 tigers die in 3 months front page; Bingchuan Wildlife Park speaks: We didn’t do anything wrong, what can we do if we can’t cure them
- The Times: Siberian tigers starve to death at Chinese zoo