An equine charity has condemned a video showing a live donkey being fed to tigers in a zoo as “horrendously inhumane”.
Footage showing a group of people pushing the helpless animal off a ramp and into a moat in the predators’ enclosure at the Yancheng Safari Park yesterday (5 June) has gone viral on social media.
The tigers can be seen attacking the donkey and eventually killing it.
The Donkey Sanctuary’s Kevin Brown said: “Poor helpless animal…. how terrifying to have been thrown into the water and then slowly maimed by the tigers that are clearly captive animals and don’t know how to kill.
“Reports say the donkey’s terrifying ordeal lasted almost half an hour – what an utterly pointless exercise and a horrendously inhumane act.”
To watch the video that contains graphic and upsetting footage click here
Alex Thiemann, vet at the sanctuary’s hospital, said the video made her feel sick.
“The welfare of the donkey has been utterly ignored,” she said.
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“The actions of these individuals could only have had one possible outcome – the drawn-out and excruciatingly painful death of a frightened animal. And yet they seem to enjoy what they are doing.
“What they have done is inexcusable, and the park authorities need to ensure it never happens again.”
A witness told the South China Morning Post that the men who pushed the donkey into the enclosure also tried to throw a goat in but were stopped by visitors and security staff.
One social media user wrote: “The donkey screamed miserably when it was pushed down. What has a donkey to do with humans’ problems?”
Through its membership of the Animals for Asia Coalition, The Donkey Sanctuary is writing to Yancheng Safari Park to ask for an immediate ban on feeding live donkeys to predator species.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
