Author: Chen Guangjiang
Recently, the reporter found that Fuyang Wildlife Park in Anhui illegally exhibited and artificially bred the Northeast Tiger, a national first-class protected animal, without obtaining an artificial breeding license. Affected by the dispute over the right to operate the zoo, a large number of wild animals died, including 20 Siberian tigers, 2 African lions, 3 giraffes and other precious wild animals. On May 13th, the zoo announced that it would temporarily close the park for three days. At present, the local forestry department has been involved in the investigation.
Behind the tragedy of the abnormal death of 20 Siberian tigers, there are a series of problems such as unlicensed breeding and chaotic management in private wildlife parks. In the face of doubts, the staff of the garden said that it is normal to be born and die, and the death of the Siberian tiger is not a human factor. "Because the garden needs profit, if the animals die, it will have a great impact on the garden, so they will be taken care of." Another garden staff member said that the tiger who died abnormally on the net "was not from our zoo, but from another boss. We don’t know what happened, and we are learning about the specific situation". The above statement is not only lacking in responsibility and unconvincing, but also suspected of forcing sophistry and even confusing right and wrong.
It is true that birth, aging, illness and death in nature are inevitable, but in an environment with high human intervention, the health and well-being of animals depend on careful management and scientific maintenance of human beings. If we only blame the death of a large number of wild animals on the "laws of nature" and ignore the possible dereliction of duty and illegal behavior in wildlife parks, I am afraid it is hard to convince people.
Did the Siberian tiger die of old age or illness? Is there any connection between the death of a large number of wild animals and illegal inbreeding? What adverse effects have been brought to the living environment of animals by issues such as equity disputes? This series of question marks needs to be straightened by relevant departments. No matter what the truth of the incident is, we can’t ignore a social consensus: human faults can’t make animals pay the bill, zoos can’t become "animal purgatory", and the basic ethics of animals can’t be ignored.
This incident is also a microcosm of the survival crisis of China’s private wildlife parks: blindly following the trend, lacking long-term planning and professional management, many private wildlife parks have buried hidden dangers since their birth, and few zoos can achieve profitability due to poor management and weak supervision. Under this circumstance, abnormal animal deaths are increasing. Under the background of market-oriented operation, how to break through the innovation and get out of the predicament in the operation mode of private wildlife parks is still a difficult problem.
No matter how innovative the garden is in management, it must respect the life of the animals in the park. It is illegal and criminal to kill wild animals illegally in the wild. Then, do animals need to be held responsible for dying and starving in the zoo? Who should bear the responsibility and what responsibility? Who should supervise and intervene when the enterprise is in poor management and in trouble? These problems still need to be further clarified by laws and regulations. The alarm bell is ringing, and wildlife parks in other places should also take the warning, be kind to wild animals, and stop simply treating them as "cash cows". (Chen Guangjiang)
Liu Chao
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