China Animals

Woman Killed by Tiger – Badaling Wildlife Park Investigation Completed

Investigation of the incident where a woman was attacked by a tiger when she got out of the car at the Badaling Wildlife Park (八达岭动物园) in Beijing this summer has been completed.

Published

8 years ago

August 24, 2016

Manya Koetse

Investigation of the incident where a woman was attacked by a tiger when she got out of the car at the Badaling Wildlife Park (八达岭动物园) in Beijing this summer has been completed. It concludes that the wildlife park is not to blame.

On July 23, 2016, a visitor of the Badaling Wildlife Park in Beijing was attacked by a tiger when she got out of her car in the safari area of the zoo. When the woman was dragged away by the animal, her husband and mother also left the vehicle to come to her rescue.

The incident resulted in the death of the elder woman (Mrs. Zhou), while the younger woman (Mrs. Zhao) was left seriously injured.

News of the tragedy soon triggered discussions on Sina Weibo about the safety at Badaling Wildlife Park, a zoo where the director was killed by one of the elephants in March. In 2009 and 2014, two other persons were also attacked and killed by one of the zoo’s tigers. Many netizens wondered who was to blame for the fatal incident: was it the zoo or its visitors?

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Footage shows the woman leaving the car and being dragged away by a tiger on July 23.

The incident’s investigation team has now completed its report, of which the results were made public earlier today. The reports identifies the following reasons for causing the incident:

First, Mrs. Zhao did not comply with the Badaling Wildlife Park’s strict guidelines not to leave the car, which led to her being attacked and wounded by the tiger. Second, the woman who got out of the car to save her daughter (Mrs. Zhou) also did not follow the park’s rules that strictly prohibit anybody from exiting their vehicle, resulting in her death.

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The report states that before entering the park’s wildlife area, visitors are clearly informed of the park’s rules by the zoo’s staff and through leaflets. Those who drive into the wildlife park with their own car, like Mrs. Zhao, also have to sign a waiver of liability. The park has clear warning signs telling visitors not to exit their vehicle, and that park rangers will come to the rescue in case of an emergency.

The investigation team therefore concludes that the Badaling Wildlife Park bears no responsibility for what happened on July 23.

The fatal minutes on July 23

The report describes how the family, consisting of the woman Mrs. Zhao, her husband Mr. Liu, her mother Mrs. Zhou, and their 2-year-old infant, entered the park at around 14.00 on July 23rd. Before entering the premises, they were informed of the park rules, which, amongst others, state that visitors cannot leave their vehicles, feed the animals or open their car windows. They also signed the waiver.

At 15:00, Mrs. Zhao exited the car on the passenger side to change seats with her husband, who was driving the car. When park rangers saw her exiting the car, they honked to warn her to get back in the car. The two vehicles behind their car also honked to alert the woman, who was soon dragged away by the tiger who had come up behind her. Mrs. Zhou and Mr. Liu also left the vehicle to go after her. Park rangers immediately drove to the scene and asked for assistance. This whole scene took place within a time frame of less than half a minute.

The report also describes that at the scene, Mrs. Zhou tried to smack the tiger who attacked her daughter, when a second tiger approached and bit her in the back. When a third tiger approached and also attacked the older woman, she gave up her fight.

As two park patrol cars arrived at the scene, Mr. Liu asked the drivers to get out of their cars to help. In accordance with park rules, they ordered Mr. Liu to get in the car immediately and to leave the scene, which he did at 15.02. Within the 14 minutes that followed, park rangers restrained a total of ten tigers by leading them into cages and the tiger habitat so that they could safely exit their vehicles. By 15.16, they found that Mrs. Zhou no longer had a pulse, while Mrs. Zhao was still alive, although her face was severely mauled.

The two women were immediately brought to the hospital, where they arrived at 15.44. The 57-year-old Mrs. Zhou was officially pronounced dead at 17.12. The 32-year-old Mrs. Zhao could be rescued despite her severe injuries, and by now has been discharged from the hospital.

Although the report does not hold Badaling Wildlife Park liable for the incident, it does stress that the park needs to further increase the safety of visitors by strengthening awareness of the existing rules, and emphasizes that park rangers need further training on how to respond in the case of emergency.

On Weibo, the completed investigation results were soon shared amongst netizens, receiving thousands of comments within a couple of hours.

The majority of Chinese netizens seem to agree with the report’s outcome.
“The zoo nor the tigers are to blame!” they respond with smileys and happy emojis.

“It is so clear how this happened, did they really need such a long time to investigate?”, some commenters wonder. “The outcome is fair!”, is what many Weibo users say.

But not everybody agrees with the report. “Firstly, a wild life park should not be used for people’s entertainment,” one netizen says: “Secondly, if a mother sees her child being dragged away and exits the car to help her, can you still blame her for not following the rules?”

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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Related Topics:Beijing China Beijing China zoo

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Manya Koetse

Manya is the founder and editor-in-chief of What's on Weibo, offering independent analysis of social trends, online media, and digital culture in China for over a decade. Subscribe to gain access to content, including the Weibo Watch newsletter, which provides deeper insights into the China trends that matter. More about Manya at manyakoetse.com or follow on X.

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China Animals

Outrage over Chinese Food Blogger Torturing Cat in Online Video

Chinese food vlogger Xu Zhihui (徐志辉) was part of a cat abuse chat group on QQ.

Published

2 years ago

April 28, 2023

Manya Koetse

A shocking and extremely cruel video in which a Chinese wanghong (online influencer) tortures a stolen cat has sparked outrage on Chinese social media.

The person involved is the Anhui-based food blogger/vlogger Xu Zhihui (徐志辉), who runs multiple accounts, including a Bilibili account with more than 400,000 followers and a Weibo account with over 20,000 fans (@杰克辣条). Xu is mostly known for posting videos of himself cooking and eating food.

The cat abuse incident happened on April 15 in Funan County’s Lucheng, Anhui Province, where the 29-year-old Xu filmed his horrific acts, including tying up the cat, binding it to a tree, cutting its paws, and burning it alive. He then uploaded the video and shared it to a QQ group dedicated to cat abuse. It later circulated around social media, triggering outrage.

According to screenshots that leaked online and the very fact Xu was part of a cruel ‘cat abuse chat group,’ this probably was not the first time for him to torture animals.

According to a police statement, authorities received reports about the stolen cat and the abuse video on April 26th, after which they immediately launched an investigation.

On April 27th, Xu posted an apology on his Weibo channel, in which he said he felt ashamed and sorry for what he did and that he was willing to bear “all the consequences” of his actions. He also wrote that he was being criticized and held accountable by both the public security bureau and Internet authorities. “Please give me another chance,” he wrote. The comments on the post were switched off.

A noteworthy part of Xu’s online apology is that it has a dedicated Weibo hashtag page including a ‘topic summary’ in which Xu apologized. The hashtag page was hosted by Toutiao News. The mix of the personal message by Xu on a hashtag page hosted by Chinese media seems to indicate that these parties worked together in spreading Xu’s words about how remorseful he allegedly is (#偷猫拍虐猫视频网红道歉#).

The comment sections suggest that most people will not forgive Xu for what he did. Many people say the story makes them feel sick to their stomach, and that the idea of ‘cat abuse’ chat groups makes their skin crawl.

“People like this do not change,” one person wrote. “Give you another chance?! Did you give that kitty a chance?!”

“Today he abuses a cat, tomorrow he kills a person. Straight to hell with him,” others wrote: “Go die!”

Xu’s actions are regarded as “negatively impacting society” and he currently is detained in Funan in accordance with the Public Security Administrative Punishments Law. His Bilibili account currently also displays a message that it is getting banned.

Although there are various laws in China regarding wildlife and the protection of animals, there currently is no national law that is explicitly against animal cruelty for all animals. Some legal bloggers explored under which laws Xu could be punished for his actions other than the abuse itself, such as stealing a cat and also uploading such a video to the internet (#虐待无主流浪猫狗或不被处罚#, #公共场合虐待动物并传播视频或犯罪#).

In recent years, voices calling for better laws on animal abuse in China have grown louder. In 2020, after a horrific story of a Chinese security guard pouring scalding water over a cat went viral, Chinese media outlet CCTV called out for a rapid legislation against animal abuse. That same video was shared in light of this incident again.

In 2021, home security cameras captured how anti-epidemic workers beat a pet dog to death in Shangrao. This also caused an online storm over animal abuse during ‘zero Covid.’

“I strongly call for legislation, [we must] defend the bottom line of morality,” some commenters now write: “We will never forgive this.”

By Manya Koetse

Follow @whatsonweibo

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China Animals

Meanwhile in Panda News: Panda Talk during Macron’s China Visit, Yaya Set to Return to China in Late April

Panda updates! From Yaya in Memphis to Qiqi in Shanghai, these are the pandas that went trending this month.

Published

2 years ago

April 9, 2023

Manya Koetse

Panda news flash! After French President Macron’s China state visit, news of France hoping to lengthen the stay of panda celebrities Huan Huan and Yuan Zi in Beauval went trending on Weibo, along with the news that Memhpis-based Yaya is not coming home to China this week.

It is time for another update on what’s been going on in panda news recently for this second What’s on Weibo ‘meanwhile in panda news’ column to give you more insights into all the trending panda topics, including the controversies and politics surrounding them.

What’s been trending recently? There has been a lot of panda-related news. The following topics have been trending recently.

◼︎ PANDA TALK DURING MACRON’S CHINA VISIT

Hashtags: #马克龙想续租大熊猫#, #法国博瓦勒动物园想续租大熊猫#

In 1973, Chinese giant pandas Yen Yen and Li Li arrived at Zoo de Vincennes in Paris. The two pandas were gifted to French President Georges Pompidou by Zhou Enlai as part of China’s famous panda diplomacy. (Funny fact: the pair were originally thought to be male and female but were later discovered to be two males.)

Now, exactly fifty years later, President Emmanuel Macron is in China with his delegation. Apart from all the major issues such as EU-China relations and the war in Ukraine, ‘panda politics’ are also on the agenda.

Macron arrived in Beijing on April 5 as part of his state visit to China. Among the delegates and business leaders joining Macron, there is also Rodolphe Delord. Delord is the director of the ZooParc de Beauval, a French zoological park that is one of the largest in Europe.

The pandas Huan Huan (欢欢) and Yuan Zi (圆仔) are currently residing in the park. They arrived in France in 2012 as part of a decade-long research & conservation cooperation project between the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and ZooParc de Beauval. Their arrival was also seen as a warming of China-France relations.

In 2017, they had a baby cub named Yuan Meng. In 2021, Huan Huan again gave birth to twin cubs Huan Lili and Yuan Dudu.

The park previously indicated it would like to lengthen the duration of their agreement so that Yuan Zi and Huan Huan can stay in France for the time to come. They are also called “the stars of Beauval.”

During Macron’s visit, the hashtags “Macron Wants to Renew Giang Panda Lease” (#马克龙想续租大熊猫#) and “French Beauval Zoo Wants to Renew the Giant Panda Lease” went trending (#法国博瓦勒动物园想续租大熊猫#).

The French President apparently has an affinity with pandas. As part of his 40th birthday celebrations, Macron met the baby panda Yuan Meng back in 2017. Macron’s wife Brigitte became the cub’s ‘godmother.’ It has not been reported yet at this point if there already is an agreement about the extended lease.

◼︎ YAYA TO COME HOME IN LATE APRIL

Hashtags: #孟菲斯提醒未经许可直播丫丫违规#, #丫丫#, #孟菲斯动物园将为丫丫举办告别派对#, #丫丫正式移交中方#

Panda Yaya (丫丫), who has been living in America’s Memphis Zoo for two decades, has been a big topic on Chinese social media platforms this year because netizens have been very concerned about her skinny and seemingly unhealthy appearance and how she is being treated in the U.S. (the heightening political tensions between the US and China have not exactly eased these concerns).

According to the American care team, Yaya has been suffering from a chronic skin and fur condition which is related to her immune system and hormonal fluctuations. They claim the condition does not affect her quality of life and that they are closely monitoring Yaya.

Yaya was previously scheduled to return to China in early April of 2023. Yaya’s Memphis Zoo stay was part of a long joint conservation and research project between the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens and the U.S. with an agreement duration of ten years, which was extended by ten more years in 2013.

On April 7, the day that Yaya was allegedly scheduled to leave Memphis, it was reported that Memphis Zoo was organizing a ‘goodbye’ event, giving visitors the time to bid farewell to Yaya before she starts her journey to China at the end of April 2023. A related topic received over 170 million clicks on Weibo on Friday (#孟菲斯动物园将为丫丫举办告别派对#).

On Saturday, Yaya got snacks and even a special cake during the goodbye event, which also included Chinese cultural performances.

Although visitors have been livestreaming Yaya at the Memphis Zoo, Chinese state media reported earlier in April that the zoo reminded visitors not to record livestreams of Yaya as it goes against their policies.

This also became a hot topic on Chinese social media: “[Yaya] needs to be livestreamed, all the way until she returned to China,” some said, with others writing: “It’s not hard to understand why they don’t want Yaya to be livestreamed.”

Some netizens and panda fans are disappointed that they will still have to wait for the female panda to return to China. “Why won’t she come to China before late April? Why why why!?”

Although Yaya fans in China will still need to wait for the panda to return, she has officially been handed over to China and a joint team of American and Chinese carers will prepare her for the big trip home (#丫丫正式移交中方#).

◼︎ WAITING FOR PANDA QIQI’S RETURN FROM HOSPITAL

Hashtags: #七七确诊肠梗阻将进行手术#, #熊猫七七#

While many people are waiting for Yaya’s return, they are also worried about another panda that is Shanghai-based. As one of the most famous pandas living in the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, Qiqi attracted attention on Chinese social media in February of 2023 because of her health problems.

The 4-year-old female panda had a CT scan that showed there was an intestinal blockage, and the panda was rushed to the hospital for surgery.

Funny detail – Dr Wang arrived at work that day and saw Mr. ‘Panda’ on the patient list, he thought it was a patient named ‘Panda’ (Xiong Mao) until he discovered it was an actual panda getting a CT scan. “We’re a regular hospital,” he said: “Our patients are usually all humans.”

Although intestinal blockage is not common, Qiqi’s older brother Ya’ao (雅奥), who also lived at the park, died of the same condition in March of 2022.

After the surgery, Qiqi received further treatment. According to the latest news at this time, Qiqi has stabilized and is no longer in life danger.

Many Qiqi fans and panda lovers are now waiting for new pictures showing a Qiqi who has, hopefully, fully recovered. “Why haven’t we received more updates?” some wonder.

Read more panda news here.

By Manya Koetse

Follow @whatsonweibo