Recent photos showing lions being hit with snowballs are causing many to be outraged. This rather unusual incident took place at a zoo in China. Many have spoke out in protest at this abuse of the lions, and this isn't the first time a Chinese zoo has been under fire. Several instances of animals being abused at China's zoos have been reported in the past, reported the Huffington Post on Jan. 10.
On Jan. 5 at the Hangzhou Zoo, a visitor decided to throw a snowball at a lion, which then prompted others to join in. As the visitors continued to launch snowballs, the defenseless lion and lioness huddled together until the attack was over, this can be seen in the photos. After the snowball attack ended, the male lion let out a thunderous roar in anger as the cruel visitors walked away in content.
After the photos showing the lions being hit with snowballs surfaced online, they quickly went viral. Not surprisingly, many people were disgusted at this senseless act of animal abuse and expressed their outrage via social networking sites with comments like,
"Why didn’t the photographer or zoo keepers stop these tourists? The zoo should provide a room for these animals rather than make them stay in the cold."
"Zoo animals have already lost their freedom. We should give them more care rather than hit them with snowballs."
"The tourists have no respect for these creatures. They feel intrinsically superior for being at the top of food chain."
When zoo officials were questioned as to why they allowed this kind of behavior, breeder Zhu Yan told Xinhua News Agency that zoo workers did not see them throwing snowballs because they were busy clearing snow elsewhere. He later told media sources,
"Although snowballs can't hurt large animals like lions, the behavior upset us nonetheless," Zhu said. "Our animals should be treated fairly. We hope our visitors will use some self-discipline and be nicer to them."
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