Guinness Yue
CHINA S Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has banned animal performances at zoos for three months from Tuesday after a gardener at Shenzhen Safari Park was mauled to death by tigers Oct. 14.
Sheng Jinhua, who was employed by Shenzhen Safari Park in July, was removing weeds when he accidentally fell into the tiger enclosure and mauled to death.
In a notice posted on the ministry s Web site Tuesday, the ministry accused some local governments and zoos of blatant profiteering and forcing animals to give performances which led to accidents and animal deaths.
All these pose a potential threat to wild animal protection and public safety. This must be prohibited, the notice said.
But two city parks that hold animal performances, Shenzhen Safari Park in Nanshan District and Shenzhen Xiaomeisha Sea World in Yantian District, both said yesterday they had not received the notice.
Shenzhen Safari Park was still promoting animal performances yesterday, while visitors were still attending dolphin and sea lion performances at Sea World.
Many residents agreed with the notice, but some said that if visitors could only watch animals through metal railings, the parks would become less attractive, particularly to children.
