Tiger killed by starving zoo mates

A tiger at a Chinese wild animal park was killed by four others in a fight over their meagre food supplies.

The Bing Chuan park in the city of Shenyang depends on entrance fees for most of its income but cold weather has been keeping visitors away, said a park animal safety official who did not want to be identified.

“The winter in north-east China is too cold, no one wants to come out and go to the zoo, so there are almost no visitors during the winter,” he said.

The incident highlights a sad irony in China’s attempts to save its dwindling number of tigers. While few are believed to remain alive in the wild, an estimated 4,000 are held on farms.

Small numbers live in zoos and wild animal parks, which often have more than they can handle, leading to calls to lift a ban on the raising and slaughter of tigers for their prized parts such as skins and bones.

Worldwide estimates point to about 3,000 to 5,000 wild tigers left in the world. However, conservationists believe these estimates are grossly exaggerated.

The Bing Chuan park has more than 30 tigers, which each normally receive about 5lb 11oz of frozen chicken and beef per day.

The park allows visitors to drive their vehicles among tigers, bears, wolves and other animals roaming free.