A zoo lion is so thin he looks like a walking skeleton has caused fury in animal lovers in China.
Horrifying footage – filmed in Nanjing at Jinniu Lake Safari Park – shows the big cat so emaciated he can barely walk.
The video – shared later on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok – shows the skin-and-bones beast wobbling down a walkway as it is about to fall at any moment.
Netizens were disturbed by the sight and accused the zoo of not taking proper care of the beast.
Douyin user ‘Ultra slow’ said in a comment: “This is too much suffering. If you can’t afford to feed it, send it to a different zoo that can.
“Why let him suffer? It should have been left living in nature.”
Another user – ‘sugar’ – said: “This zoo is too much, starving the lions like this.”
Zoo officials later claimed that the lion is so old he can no longer chew his food.
They claim that the big cat – named Ala – is 25 years old and would be 80 if he were a human.
Officials say he is fed a special diet of liquid protein and small cuts of meat and is watched over by specially trained vets and keepers in a private cage.
The zoo added: “Usually, we let it out for a walk in the morning or evening.”
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Story By: Simona Kitanovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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