Pictured: Sickening moment tiger is beaten around the head with a stick to pose for photographs with Chinese families

 

• Animal appears drugged as parents and children queue up for mementos

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 11:05 GMT, 16 January 2013 | UPDATED: 14:27 GMT, 16 January 2013

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263244/Pictured-Sickening-moment-tiger-beaten-head-stick-pose-photographs-Chinese-families.html#ixzz2IYTGNrDa

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Shocking video emerged today showing a dazed and confused tiger being smacked in the head with sticks while being forced to pose for photographs with tourists.

The tiger, which appears to have been drugged, is seen slumped on a table as excited parents and children queue up to sit next to the endangered animal.

To ensure it keeps facing the camera, two men armed with white sticks bash it in the face and neck.

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Cruel: A docile tiger is smacked around the head as tourists, one of them nonchalantly smoking a cigarette, pose for pictures with the animal

 

Bashed: The tiger, which appears to have been drugged, is seen slumped on a table as excited parents and children queue up to sit next to the endangered animal

Cruel: A docile tiger is smacked around the head as tourists, one of them nonchalantly smoking a cigarette, pose for pictures with the animal

It is not clear where or when the video was taken or who is organising the photographs, which are very likely to have been laid on for financial gain.

But in a posting on liveleak.com, where the footage was uploaded, it claims to have taken place in the popular beach resort of Beidaihe in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao, possibly at a zoo.

One commenter said: ‘I was seriously hoping this video would end with one of those two guys mauled.’

Emergence of the video comes just days after terrified lions were pelted with snowballs by by laughing visitors, including children, at Hangzhou Zoo in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.

VIDEO Warning: Graphic content some viewers may find disturbing

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Spectator sport: Parents and two young children sit next to the tiger for their picture in front of a wildlife background

Kept in line: It is not clear where or when the footage was taken, but left below the video posted online suggest it may have been at a zoo in the popular beach resort of Beidaihe in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao

 

Abused: A tourist laughs as one of the men armed with sticks makes sure the animal faces the camera

In January last year, the Chinese government banned zoos from putting on cruel animal performances after increased pressure from outraged animal rights groups.

A study by Animals Asia in 2010 found bears were often whipped and beaten with sticks, elephants were prodded with metal hooks, while tigers and lions were made to endure chronic pain by being defanged and declawed.

But months after the ban came into force, some zoos were found to still be flouting the law.

Are these the world’s cruellest zoo-goers? Chinese visitors pelt frightened lions with SNOWBALLS

• Helpless lions take cover as group – including children – hurl snow at them
• Attack ‘launched by young man who laughed as he pelted animals‘
• Other animals at the zoo in Hangzhou, eastern China, were also targeted

By Sam Adams

PUBLISHED: 16:18 GMT, 10 January 2013 | UPDATED: 17:18 GMT, 10 January 2013

Throwing snowballs at lions does not sound the safest – or kindest – way to enjoy yourself.

But when the animals are contained in a zoo enclosure and you are firing down on them from behind a safety barrier – it is a little easier to be brave.

These lions certainly looked less than pleased when they were pelted with snow by laughing visitors, including children, at Hangzhou Zoo in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.

Helpless: The two lions cowered together as snow was hurled down into their enclosure by the crowd above at Hangzhou Zoo in Zhejiang Province, eastern China

Bullying: A group of visitors – some just children – bombarded the lions with snow from the side of the pen

Frightened: The lioness, clearly scared, ducks down as snowballs fly past her

The attack was reportedly launched by one young man, who began to take aim at the big cats with a barrage of snow and ice.

The attack clearly frightened the helpless animals, with the lioness swiftly taking cover under a wooden plank.

The male line used a tree trunk as cover, with both eyes fixed on the visitors, as the missiles rained into the enclosure, ChinaSmack.com reports.

The man apparently laughed as he hurled the snow, with a group of other visitors, including a number of children, also starting to take aim at the lions.

Debris: The lions look at the ground as fragments of snow and ice land around them

 

Glare: The two lions look furious as they continued to be targeted (left) while the lion later took a direct hit to his head (right)

Fierce: the lion finally loses his temper and lets out a furious roar at their tormentors

One of them used large chunks of snow and threw them down with all of his strength, according to the website.

The frightened lions took shelter together in the corner of their pen as they tried to escape the new onslaught. The male lion roared in anger at his tormentors as they began to stroll away.

Sadly the lions were not the only animals to be pelted with snow, with some of the crowd also pelting the zoo’s alpacas, monkeys, a giraffe, a tiger and other creatures.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2260253/Getting-roar-deal-Angry-lions-sitting-ducks-pelted-snowballs-laughing-crowd-Chinese-zoo.html#ixzz2Hij61XGR
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