Pacific Currents: Gore draws Chinese to animal parks

Chinese Animal Parks:

Via the Best of the Web today, I saw this article on Chinese animal parks:

While some of these visitors may be animal lovers, they have not paid $7 apiece merely to drive around and admire the huge felines lounging about in their snowy compounds.

They are here to see some action. But first, they must pay.

"You can buy a domesticated chicken for 40 yuan ($4.80) or for 100 yuan ($12.10) you can buy a wild one, which flies," the driver announces. "The effect is much different; it's exceptionally thrilling."

In their hourlong tour of this park, tourists will watch ravenous tigers chasing down live chickens, sheep and cows. Feathers will be plucked and limbs torn by the 300-pound cats while the tourists gasp, scream, cheer and recoil at the carnage.

But there is an innate sort of fairness at work:

Like many new industries in China, this one grew quickly without government oversight. Several people have been mauled to death at parks.

Well, sometimes:

One park put a turtle in a glass box and allowed people to throw coins at it so they could try to hit its shell. At another, a tiger's head was chained down so that children could climb on its back for photos.

A few parks even allow visitors to pay extra to watch a live horse get devoured by lions and tigers.

This all reminds me of my time in China. In the city of HangZhou, once capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, there is a place called "the HangZhou Bird's Paradise."

The chief attraction? Daily Cockfights, noon and three.

There are some photos from HangZhou here, which look enough like mine that I won't bother to upload the things.