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11 Tigers Starve to Death in China Zoo

Cash-strapped owner fed them occasional chicken

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 12, 2010 2:58 AM CST
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(Newser) – At least 11 Siberian tigers have starved to death in a Chinese zoo run by an owner strapped for cash. The tigers require 20 pounds of meat a day, but zoo operators only provided the big cats with a chicken carcass every couple of days. Two of the tigers, apparently driven by hunger, attacked a zoo keeper late last year and were shot to death. Earlier, 4 tigers ate a cage mate, and 6 tigers died in a single day.

The Chinese government has stepped in to support the privately owned Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Shenyang, which still has some 20 tigers. Wildlife experts esitmate only some 450 Siberian tigers still exist in the wild, reports the Telegraph.

A Siberian tiger runs away with a chicken tossed by tourists at the Harbin Tiger Park in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province.
A Siberian tiger runs away with a chicken tossed by tourists at the Harbin Tiger Park in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
A Siberian tiger reacts after licking the metal gate at a Tiger Park in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province.
A Siberian tiger reacts after licking the metal gate at a Tiger Park in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
The cash-strapped operator of the privately owned Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Shenyang couldn't afford to fed his starving animals.
The cash-strapped operator of the privately owned Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Shenyang couldn't afford to fed his starving animals.   (AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Joim Schulz)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 8 comments
Silverbow7
Mar 13, 2010 4:35 AM CST
I'm surprised they didn't kill the zoo keeper. They seem to kill people for just about anything.
finkster
Mar 13, 2010 12:03 AM CST
Endangered species should not be caged in zoos.
hankhill
Mar 12, 2010 9:38 PM CST
keeper should have fed self to the tigers
World • Green

 
China • endangered species • starvation • zoo • Siberian tigers

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