Guest Comments by the Animals Asia Foundation

Bears punched or beaten with sticks and forced to box each other, elephants jabbed with metal hooks to force them to stand on their heads, and tigers and lions with teeth and claws removed causing chronic pain, highlight the findings of recent Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) investigations at China's zoos and safari parks.

A new report, Performing Animals in Chinese Zoos, details our findings at 13 zoos and safari parks. AAF animal welfare director David Neale and a team of Chinese investigators use the report and a short film to document the barbaric treatment of animals and their poor living conditions.

Many captive-animal enterprises provide animal performances to entertain visitors. The techniques used to force animals to perform tricks are cruel and abusive. Starting with young animals, trainers often beat them until they perform desired tricks. Showmen engage in negative reinforcement, whipping and striking the animals repeatedly, forcing them to do tricks that contradict natural behavior.

Many performing big cats have their canine teeth removed or cut back to gum level and are de-clawed to make them defenseless. Detoothed lions and tigers suffer severe and chronic pain due to exposed pulp and nerve endings.

The animals live in small, barren, concrete enclosures, often in darkened rooms behind the performance areas away from visitors. Their living conditions fall short of basic welfare needs. Many lack visible access to water. No attempts are made to meet their behavioral needs.

“Animal performances portray animals to the public in a humiliating way that does not promote empathy and respect,” Neale said. “There is little educational value in seeing animals in conditions that do not resemble natural habitat. Teaching animals to perform inappropriate tricks does nothing to educate the public or foster respect for animals. Such performances teach the public only the animals' size, shape and color.”

Asiatic black bears are the most usual animal performers, followed by monkeys, tigers, sea-lions, birds and elephants. The unnatural performances, prompted by fear, see some bears ride bicycles, do acrobatics, box each other, wrestle humans or even ride a motorcycle along a high wire 30 feet above the ground.

Meanwhile, monkeys ride bicycles or do handstands on the horns of goats. Tigers walk on their back legs, leap through hoops of fire or balance on large balls. Elephants stand on their heads or spin on one leg.

In less-usual animal acts, some parks force pigs off the end of 10-foot high-platforms into water. One park has monkeys and dogs jumping over the backs of hippos.