Story By: Buli Liang, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment a muzzled performing bear is forced to dance to the English band The Ting Tings’ hit song “That’s not my name”.
The incident was filmed at Bifengxia Zoo in the city of Ya’an in the southern Chinese province of Sichuan and was later shared on social media by the animal rights group ‘Save Animals in Performance’.
In the footage, a straight-faced trainer is seen feeding small pieces of a steamed bun to the scrawny-looking bear as it is forced to stand on its hind legs and balance on a wooden board positioned on top of a cylinder.
‘Save Animals in Performance’ said: “Half a bun for one show. This is Bifengxia Zoo’s ‘treatment’ of black bears. Lured by the crumbs of steamed bread, the bear performed acrobatics, rode bikes and balancing boards. Who can believe this zoo was honoured as the ‘natural education base for Sichuan Province’?”
Netizen ‘Xunyicao’ said: “Where is this natural education base? Absolutely disgusting.”
‘Quyyy’ commented: “It is sad to see this bear so hungry it would eat a bun which is not really meant for bears at all.”
Keith Guo, PETA Asia press officer for China told Asia Wire: “PETA’s investigation into China’s Suzhou circuses reveals that bears are probably the most abused animals in animal performance in the country.
“Through the constant threat of violence, they are forced to hula hoop, box and play trumpets. Bear cubs are strung up by their necks for hours to train them to stand on their hind legs, and the animals endured numerous other forms of abuse as well.
“While bears in the wild may roam up to hundreds of miles, those in circuses are denied the opportunity to hibernate and are routinely held in dog kennel-sized cages when not performing, leading to psychological distress, arthritis, pressure sores and other debilitating health conditions.
“We urge people not to support circuses or other attractions that exploit animals.”
According to PETA Asia, in 2013, the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development created the National Zoo Development Programme which banned animal performances in zoos and prevented them from intimidating, abusing and striking animals. However, the policy not been enforced.
When contacted by Asia Wire, Bifengxia Zoo confirmed the show has been performed since 2018 and is ongoing.
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