A Chinese zoo has been accused of using old videos of a tiger cub to attract donations after she died, triggering public controversy.
The Puyang Central Zoo, a privately run zoo in Puyang city in central China’s Henan province, was reported to have been using old videos of a dead tiger cub to keep tricking “sponsorship fees” from live-stream viewers.
On February 10, local authorities confirmed the case and announced its decision to suspend the zoo’s operations and place its director under a rectification programme.
Previously, sharp-eyed online observers noticed the zoo’s tiger keeper, Zhang Lina, live-streamed its star Siberian tiger cub, Nuannuan, while using old footage of her or filming another tiger cub.
It turned out that Nuannuan had died from feline distemper, a highly contagious, life-threatening infectious disease and the zoo concealed the truth.
The zoo charges 20 yuan (US$3) for adults and 10 yuan for children. However, its major income is reportedly donations from viewers attracted to online live-streams of its animals.
The video clips on Zhang’s account, which has 2.7 million followers, show that Zhang asks for tips from viewers to “feed” the animals virtually.
Zhang says the zoo keeps more than 20 tigers and each donation of around 25 yuan (US$4) can buy a chicken to feed them. She says each tiger costs around 200 yuan and promises that they will not ask for more donations than they need.
Following the official announcement, Zhang said the allegations against her were false.
She insisted that they did not conceive Nuanuan’s death to scam the audience, but to prevent them from going through the same heartbreak that Zhang had.
Zhang said it was the zoo’s director Wu Shuling’s idea to hide the truth.
Zhang said Wu also came up with the idea of naming another tiger cub Nuannuan to comfort her.
She added that a woman had been sponsoring Nuannuan by sending them 2,600 yuan (US$380) a month.
Before they lied in the live-streams, they notified the sponsor about her death and received her permission to keep the unused donations.
They also denied asking for donations for the dead tiger and only apologised for lying about her death.
The zoo also promised to publish Nuannuan’s treatment videos and a detailed breakdown of how much is spent on their animals.
Online opinions on the controversy were divided.
“When the zoo live-streams the animals for money, when love can be capitalised, honesty has become the most vulnerable thing,” said one online observer.
Another expressed sympathy: “It is difficult for privately-run zoos to sustain their business and keep the animals alive and healthy.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
