Shanghai's wild animal park

We did visit a "wild animal park" outside of Shanghai. As part of the admission, you get a bus ride through several gated sections of the park. The first section of the park had all the plant eaters - zebras, gazelle, water buffalo, and wild boar - and no green left for them to graze on. There were assorted bales of hay, but it didn't seem to be enough.

The next section had the lions. The driver asked for 'contributions' so that they can put live chickens on the outside of the bus for the lions. They got a couple of chickens, put them on a rope right outside the windows of the bus (one chicken on each side) and drove the bus slowly into the lion's area. The lions were waiting. When the bus drove in, the a lion got on each side of the bus, crouched down, and jumped up to grab the chicken in one quick motion. It seemed that the lion areas were full of nice tall grass.

There was also a tiger area and a bear area. No one wanted to pay to feed the tigers also. I think the tigers were disappointed by the lack of a chicken snack.

I think the park would be better off if they took some of those starving herbivores and released them into the lion and tiger areas. The herbivores would get a chance to eat some of the tall grass in the carnivore areas - although they'd end up being a snack themselves. This would also reduce the number of herbivores eating the grass and allow it to grow some. Herbivores get more food, carnivores get more food. Only downside are the few herbivores sacrificed.

The lemurs were very cute. It did seem that the 5 yuan per "snack pack" that the park charged was a big money maker. The visitors pretty much paid to feed the animals and the park made a hefty profit. The lemurs seemed to be the only animals in the park that got enough food.