A mass grave of animals that died of illness and malnutrition has been found at a zoo in China, state media said yesterday, again throwing the spotlight on poor conditions in the country’s wildlife parks.
The discovery in Harbin comes just weeks after authorities in Shenyang said they were investigating a zoo where three-dozen animals had died, amid allegations of parts harvesting.
Workers at the Harbin Northern Forest Zoo dug the 3m deep pit last year to bury the dead animals, including lions, tigers and leopards, Xinhua news agency reported.
It was unclear exactly how many had died and over what period, but the report said the pit was believed to contain 30 to 40 carcasses.
Quoting statistics divulged by frustrated employees, the report said that in the first half of 2008, 14 animals — including endangered white tigers and white lions — had died from malnutrition.
Zhang Xinru (張昕茹), deputy head of the feeding department at the zoo, told Xinhua the establishment had decided to make changes to the animals’ food regimes in 2007 to save money.
Lions and tigers were fed chicken meat and bones to partly replace beef and lamb, and some keepers even gave the lions corn buns instead of meat, the report said.
When zoo officials realized the animals were dying, they changed the feeding pattern again but animals were still suffering from malnutrition, it said.
A zoo spokeswoman, who refused to be named, denied the report, saying the animals had died under normal circumstances of old age or illness. She refused to comment further.
China has more than 200 zoos, the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens said. However, only large zoos in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai receive government funding and attention, state media said.
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