This footage shows a poor tiger cub being made to dip its paw in red ink and apply it to New Year calendars so that a zoo can sell them and make money.
It was filmed at the Linfen Zoo in Shanxi Province, China, which is selling the calendars for CNY 10 (GBP 1.09) each, local media reported on 2nd January.
The footage shows the young tiger cub, reportedly named Xiaoxiao, being held by the staff, with its paws pinched and pressed on paper, looking on helplessly as it is forced to leave its print on the calendars.
Local media reports said that the calendars sold like hotcakes and they were quickly out of stock.
But some netizens questioned whether the zoo was treating animals cruelly in order to make money.
A user titled ‘Azalea’ on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, commented: “This is forced labour.”
User ‘0Zero’ said: “The poor tiger is forced to work and looks completely confused. What’s going on here?”
And ‘The Young Master’ added: “Be more gentle, it seems painful.”
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
