A video of chubby tigers chasing down drones in China went viral after it was released on YouTube this week. As people took delight in watching the Siberian cats getting some much-needed exercise, many do not know the dark story behind it.
The tigers in the video are reportedly bred in the park for their meats, bones and pelts. Yes, you read that right! The footage was uploaded by China's state-run media network CCTV+, with the location of the video given as Heilongjiang Province of China, which is a home to Harbin Siberian Tiger Park, the Mirror reported.
The Environmental Investigation Agency in 2013 had released a report stating Harbin as one of the biggest tiger-breeding centres in China, where the creatures are later killed. Chinese tradition highly values meat and bones of tigers for medicinal use and also for making wine. The creatures' striped coat is used to making high-end fashion accessories in the country.
Reports state that although the park in China is advertised by the media out there, with intermittent videos of tigers running around, reportedly the truth is that the park serves as a slaughterhouse for these animals that are butchered for marketing purposes.
A McClatchy reporter in 2014 had visited the park and had seen the bottles of wine made from tiger bone on sale in the region. The practice of killing tigers to make consumer products was made illegal in the country in the year 1993.
The report states: "Since the 1940s, China's wild tiger population has dropped from about 4,000 to an estimated 20 to 50 animals. A visit to the park also reveals that many of the park's 500 Siberian tigers are kept in small cages, visibly rolling in their excrement. The potential revenue gives park managers little incentive to keep the tigers alive."
