A traveling circus was exposed this month for its inhumane practices with evidence of a Siberian tiger, which is endangered and protected in China, being used as an attraction. The video made rounds starting two weeks ago after being shared on iqiyi.com, a Chinese video-sharing platform.
The name of the circus is unknown, as is the identity of the person filming the video, but this scene was allegedly shot in Yiyang, Hu Nan Province. Since the circus travels, it’s difficult to pinpoint which one it might have been but it’s easy to see that what this tiger endures for every show is cruel.
In the video, three men are shown manipulating the tiger as he is forced down by two of those men, who are standing on top of him. One of the men holds the tiger’s head down with two poles while the others adjust the ropes, and when the ropes are being pulled taut, the man ditches the poles and puts his full weight on the tiger’s head to keep him down.
This may seem like the worst of what the tiger goes through that day, but matters become much bleaker when the men start allowing people in to sit on the tiger and take photos. Dozens of people line up to take a ride on the tiger, whose bindings are so tight he can’t even move his head. What’s worse is that the likelihood that this tiger was drugged to make him more compliant and docile is high. In another video, the tiger is released from the ropes and in one swift movement he jumps up and away, relieved to be free at last.
In China, which is a hub for animal cruelty, traveling circuses that use animals in inhumane ways are normal and there are over 300 of them in existence in Suzhou, China alone. While news of the Ringling Bros. shutting down after over 100 years of animal-driven shows is great for America, there are other countries around the world that treat their animals, even if they’re endangered, even worse than the U.S. does.
Cruelty isn’t specific to circuses, either; news of starving and neglected animals at zoos is circulating with government officials doing nothing to help the poor creatures. While some zoos actually provide the necessary care and conservation programs for their residents, others exploit their animals for profit and don’t use those funds to care for them in return.
Though it’s illegal in China for humans and wild animals to come in physical contact in circuses, the industry is poorly-regulated and documentation of these instances does little to motivate officials to look into these incidents. The best actions to take in this scenario are to donate to organizations that help regulate these practices or pledge to never support any entertainment act that includes animals.
Watch the video below to see how this tiger is treated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MMac1p8XX8
What are your thoughts on this tiger’s treatment? Please share, like, and comment on this article!
This article (Video Footage Shows Tiger Being Tied Down So People Can Ride The Endangered Animal [Watch]) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com
