Distressing footage has emerged from a zoo in Beijing, China, showing a large captive adult tiger walking around in circles. The pacing of the animal was found on a leaked video which can ve viewed below, and has led to harsh criticism of the zoo and its treatment of wild animals.
The enclosure the tiger was filmed in was simply a large cage which looks nothing like the tiger’s natural jungle habitat, which will in part play a role in the poor mental health of the creature.
Representatives of the zoo say that they have given the tiger psychological ‘counselling’ and stated:
“We have taken the animal to receive behaviour training. We also brought more food and toys for the tiger. It’s like ‘psychological counselling’”.
Most animal caregivers would not regard simply giving the tiger extra toys to play with as appropriate counselling, according to Sun Quanhui, a senior scientific adviser at a non-profit organisation called World Animal Protection China. He notes that this is hardly the first case of misappropriating treatment towards animals in China’s zoos:
“Let’s just give the example of how beasts of prey are kept. In almost every Chinese zoo, we see them in cement cages or behind steel bars, which to some extent is considered maltreatment. Some are species that naturally live in groups, but they’re often isolated, which also causes them huge psychological distress.”
According to Born Free, a campaign group that works to stop the mistreatment of animals, activities such as ‘pacing’ seen in the video are a result of ‘zoochosis’ a breakdown of animal mental health due to being stuck in an enclosed or inappropriate environment:
"If the captive environment does not fully cater for the species-specific needs of an animal, or if it imposes unnatural stress or frustration, there can be a deterioration in the animal’s physical and mental health. This may manifest in the development of physical disease or abnormal behaviour. Abnormal behaviour in captive animals can include stereotypic behaviours – highly repetitive, invariant, functionless behaviour, such as repetitive pacing, swaying, head-bobbing, bar-biting, over-grooming or excessive licking. These behaviours result from “the frustration of natural behaviour patterns, impaired brain function, or repeated attempts to deal with some problem” (Mason 2005).
We hope that this magnificent beast will be able to roam in a natural environment soon and escape its current horrible condition.
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