Tug-of-war with tiger? Try at China zoo for $7

Players need to grab a rope that passes through a tiny hole into the giant cat’s enclosure. To get the tiger to participate, a live chicken is placed in a sack tied to a rope. In one such game, seven tourists reportedly lost to a four-year-old Amur tiger. Yi Ting, who works at the zoo, said that the tug-of-war game aims to train the wild Siberian tigers and stimulate them, avoiding sickness that could be caused by their long-term captivity in the zoo.

Tourists who buy a ticket for $7.36 can participate in the game, Sina English news service reported. According to a regulation by the ministry of housing and urban-rural development of China, all kinds of animal shows are banned in zoos. However, Yi said, such games should not be included in animal performances such as those held by circuses. Animal rights activist Guo Geng said human-tiger games are surely included in the animal performances, which also seem an insult to animals.