Journey in Southern Sichuan November 9th to 13th 2001
by Sheila McClelland and John Wedderburn
Friday 9th November 2001
We arrived at 6.0am in Yibin on the overnight train from Chengdu (Yibin is
370 Km south-east of Chengdu). We just failed to get a photo of an old man
getting off the train carrying on a bamboo stick over his shoulders two
chicken-wire square boxes each containing nearly 50 four week old kittens.
Yibin lies at the confluence of the Min and Jinsha rivers and is the highest
port on the Yangtze. It has a population of one million in the city proper
and six million in its surrounding jurisdiction.
We made a walk through the central district markets and parks and visited
the Yibin municipal zoo - Cui Ping Park Zoo. This is typical of the horrid
little zoos that can be found in the smaller Chinese cities. Barren and
featureless rusting menagerie cages - about 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5m. The animals
were generally in poor thin condition but had water (dirty looking) and
food.
1 male lion, 1 male tiger - trying to pace on a slippery floor.
1 deer.
1 ostrich in bad condition with feather loss and lesions on neck and back.
2 camels with hair loss.
2 goats.
2 ponies.
Many different kinds of birds including parrots, pheasants, peacocks, hens,
an owl, a vulture with no tail feathers and a lesion on his neck.
4 rabbits.
There was a collection of macaques. One had a split lip and a mashed finger
and big wounds on body and head. A young macaque was on a chain inside the
cage. In the cage there was dirty water, compressed biscuits and many
plastic bags. No enrichment.
On the way back from the zoo we came across a small exhibit house which
contained:
1 monitor lizard.
1 crocodile.
1 python.
2 monkeys on short fixed chains on a pedestal.
1 pheasant.
1 chameleon.
5 dead snakes.
lots of asbestos sheeting.
Photos of the market and of Cui Ping Park at:
http://www.aapn.org/yibinphot.html
After lunch we visited a dog meat restaurant which had 2 dogs in a cage
waiting to be killed and eaten. In another cage were three puppies. The
restaurant owner informed us that there are 5 dog meat restaurants in Yibin
supplied by two farms about 20Km outside Yibin. We asked to visit these but
were repeatedly told that the roads were too dangerous. He said they used
about 20 - 30 dogs each month. We were told that dog eating is not popular
in this area amongst the older generation - dogs were traditionally kept as
guards and pets but not food. However the younger generation is coming
under the influence of other provinces - Guangdong, Hubei, Liaoning,
Heilongjiang, Jilin) - and dog eating is now considered to be fashionable as
a special occasion feast. It seems that dog eating becomes less popular as
you move North in this region.
Xichang to the South of Yibin has a much more flourishing dog meat industry.
Dog meat is very expensive compared with pork which is as cheap as ordinary
vegetables.
For Photos of Yibin Market, see:
http://www.aapn.org/zigongmarketphot.html
We then visited a pig slaughterhouse. There are 3 pig slaughterhouses in
Yibin - two government run and one private. This was the private one and the
smallest of the three. It processes five to six hundred pigs each night
starting at midnight. Hoses are used to propel the pigs from the holding
pens down a slope to the killing room. They used to stun the pigs but
stopped because the customers complained that the colour of the meat was
affected. The pigs are killed by a knife into the heart and then bled
upside down. As it was daytime, we did not witness the process.
Saturday 10th November 2001
We took a taxi 105Km north to Zigong (Salt Mine City).
We visited one of only two restaurants that sell dog meat in Zigong. They
buy a dog from the market about once a week, kill it themselves and put it
in their freezer. About 10 dogs a week are eaten in Zigong.
We visited the private Zigong People's Park Zoo.
Another nasty little zoo. Dirty, miserable cages with animals in bad
condition.
1 camel.
4 deer (in pairs in separate concrete and iron cages).
1 tiger + 1 dog (apparently friends since young - the story was that the dog
was put in as food but the tiger never ate him).
2 cranes.
1 Chinese alligator in a tiny puddle.
A variety of parrots, peacocks, peasants and chickens in poor conditions.
4 macaques, one near death, 1 with a growth on his neck.
Another 3 macaques - interestingly, in an old bile bear cage.
1 vulture.
1 moon bear - presumably ex-bear bile farm.
We were told the following:
a.. that bear farming was originally undertaken in Dujiangyan City but
because Westerners visiting the ancient irrigation works there complained
about the cruelty, the bears were moved as a first measure to the Zhiyang
district.
b.. It was then decided to phase out the bear farming altogether and a
foundation was formed by the State Forestry Administration and local
businessmen, bear farmers and other benefactors so that retired bears could
live out their lives in peace.
c.. Some of the bears are now looked after by the foundation whilst others
have gone to zoos.
d.. We also saw empty bile bear cages at the new zoo in Jintang - see
later (Tuesday).
For more on this subject, see:
http://www.animalsasia.org/
Outside the gates of the Zigong Zoo was one of the common freak type shows
with several dead turtles and snakes and some live ones and a frantic,
desperate "Sea Fox" (Civet) which was kept hungry so that visitors could
feed him with live eels from a ladle.
For Photos of Zigong Zoo, see:
http://www.aapn.org/zigongphot.html
We visited the Market in central Zigong.
We witnessed ducks, geese, chickens and rabbits being slaughtered.
About 100 rabbits are killed each day at this location alone. They wait in
exposed baskets until chosen by a customer. The chosen one is then strung
up by a leg, stabbed in the neck and skinned.
For Photos of Zigong Market, see:
http://www.aapn.org/zigongmarketphot.html
Sunday 11th November 2001
This is the traditional day for dog trading in Zigong. We visited 3 areas
of activity - 2 on hills in parks (the main one is Fu Dai Mountain) and 1 in
a traditional market (Ding Gan Ba Street). Dogs were being bought and sold
for pets, for guards and for food. There were demonstrations of dog
training - attacks on each other and padded people. We also witnessed the
servicing (rape) of a mixed breed bitch by a champion german shepherd dog.
The meat of watch dogs is not considered good to eat.
Meat dogs sell for Y100 to 250. (US$1 is approximately Y8). (In New York
they sell for US$450 according to a WB11 investigation!)
Guard dogs for much more. There was one dog there that had been purchased
from Germany for Y600,000 and had won many watch dog competitions.
Importation from Hong Kong is more usual.
The dogs are imported pretrained for guard and police duties and detecting
smuggling. "Unfortunately the dogs forget their training after one or two
years".
There are guard dog training centres in Chengdu, Nanning, Xian, Beijing and
Shenyang. And a Tibetan Mastiff centre in Nanchang. Breeding of guard dogs
is officially encouraged.
Servicing fees varied from Y800 to Y5000.
A pure bred puppy will sell for more than Y10,000; mixed for 700 - 4,000.
Cats were being sold for Y2 - 5.
One old man was selling his dog for Y8 because he couldn't afford to feed
either the dog or himself.
There are estimated to be 150 million dogs in China.
For Photos of Pet Trading, see: Zigong Market
We then took a taxi 47Km north-east to Neijiang and visited the Neijiang
People's Park Zoo.
Yet another horrid little zoo which should not be allowed to exist. Tiny,
dirty, featureless cages with no attempts at enrichment, many cages without
water; bars and fences rusted and dangerous;, gates left open; visitors not
supervised, etc, etc.
2 porcupines.
1 out-of-his-mind brown bear.
1 moon bear (?ex bile bear).
1 ostrich.
2 dogs.
several peacocks.
4 deer on concrete.
2 deer on concrete.
7 macaques.
1 female tiger.
1 female lion.
2 vultures.
1 owl.
In the Park were areas where mature trees had been felled to make way for
grass and palm trees - we were told that this was to make the park look more
"western".
In the streets were "Tibetan" traders selling medicines and endangered
animal parts (?fake).
Photos of the traders at:
http://www.aapn.org/chengduphot.html
For Photos of Neijiang Zoo, see:
http://www.aapn.org/neijiangphot.html
After this we went by bus to Ya'an (150Km south-west of Chengdu).
Monday 12th November 2001
Bi Fung Xia Wild Animal Park.
This is a newly set up park beautifully situated in the foothills above
Ya'an. Entry was Y100 each. The drive up to it was impressive with some
exotic animals on view in paddocks beside the road (lions, tigers,
ostriches, camels, gnus, etc). Also quite impressive was the trip through
the main paddocks on the zoo bus. After that, horrors began to unfold.
The first paddock the bus went through was a concrete expanse with 3 wolves
and 3 saplings on it. The next were a good paddock for 10 lions and another
for 4 tigers with watering holes, platforms, hills and trees. One paddock
had a brown bear and 4 moon bears - one, defanged and declawed, put his head
and a paw into the driver's window and was fed with apple slices. There
were also 3 civets.
Then off the bus and a long circuitous walk round the zoo section.
First, a miserable pair of cages with 2 vultures and 3 eagles - hardly room
to move, let alone fly.
11 deer on a brick square.
10 free ranging macaques but 1 baby on a chain.
8 macaques in a concrete cage.
10 macaques in a concrete cage.
7 crocodiles outside the crocodile performance stadium (no performance
immediately scheduled).
Large bird park - 2 tethered peacocks. Many water birds - seagulls, etc -
cranes, magpies, quails, etc.
Wild Animal Performance:
assorted parrots, cockatoos and macaws doing various tricks.
4 young lions and 1 tiger doing rolling and balancing tricks) declawed
and defanged). 1 lion rode on a horse's back.
macaques doing somersaults, balancing, bicycling, etc.
goat with a monkey on her back doing tight rope walking.
lion jumping through 2 fiery hoops
moonbear on stilts carrying a basket; baby moonbear on roller skates
looking terrified.
lion walking over two women.
pigs and puppies seen in cages behind the performance area.
Camel rides.
Horse rides.
Elephant show (no performance immediately scheduled). 1 large and 1 medium
female Asian elephant each in a small horribly confining cage made of bars,
chicken wire and perspex. Bull hooks standing ready. Ears torn. Sores on
legs and feet.
Then an area with lots of small featureless cages containing:
badgers
monkeys
white foxes
red foxes
porcupines
mad, terrified wolves
boar
rabbit
sheep
macaques
ducks
donkey slipping on wet bricks
5 slow loris
7 shitzu dogs
1 sharpei and 2 spaniel puppies
Photography area:
blind moon bear on pedestal
dressed up macaque sitting between 2 tethered peacocks
Then a wooded area with:
8 deer on brick square.
4 bovines on brick square.
white tailed deer, brown deer and sambar on bricks.
3 sheep.
guinea fowl with donkeys and sheep.
large sow with child.
a variety of deer, elk and goats -some with foot troubles.
2 kangaroos in central heating.
3 white tigers and 2 white lions in relatively large enclosures.
numerous stalls selling snake oil, tiger urine, dog penis, elixir of youth,
etc.
Thinking Room - extraordinary display of macabre pictures and models.
Sealion performance area (no performance immediately scheduled).
For Photos of Bi Fung Xia, see: Bi Fung Xia, Ya'an
Tuesday 13th November 2001
In the morning we visited the Chengdu Wild World at Jintang.
60km north-west of Chengdu.
This will not be open until December 2001 but we were kindly allowed to
drive through the safari park section. The animals were already in their
night quarters but had not yet been released in the paddocks. There were
separate paddocks for Tigers, Bears, Lions and Wolves. Inside the Bear
paddock were 3 empty bile bear farming cages and 2 empty bile bear transport
cages. There will also be exhibits of Deer, Elephants, Zebras, Monkeys,
Dogs, Foxes and there will be 4 Giant Pandas. 3000 animals, 300 species.
Area 1 x 5 sq Km.
There was a large stadium structure - we could not ascertain its function.
In the afternoon we visited the Giant Panda Research Station - the sun was
shining and the Pandas were gambolling in the trees and grass - thus we
absorbed a generally more upbeat feeling about the place than on our last
visit.
Then a short cyclo ride to visit the Chengdu Zoo. This was our 3rd visit to
this large but sorry municipal zoo. Accounts of previous visits can be seen
at:
http://www.aapn.org/zoopage.html - scroll down
to Chengdu.
The rhino house now has a resident white rhino and 5 zebras.
The dog section has fortunately disappeared - in its place is a small
petting zoo (a calf, some goats, ducks and rabbits).
Other animals include the following:
2 hippos.
2 mongolian wild asses.
2 thin male lions; 1 female lion - all the cats having shockingly bad
cages.
3 siberian tigers (one with calluses worn on cheeks from bar rubbing).
3 jaguars, 2 melanotic.
2 adult leopards; 2 x 18 month olds; 5 x 6 month olds in 3 separate
cages; 1 kept solitary - looked unwell.
1 large chimp; 1 small chimp - shockingly inadequate cages for all the
great apes.
2 orangutans housed separately, desperately trying to get back into
sleeping quarters.
2 gnus plus child.
2 pandas; 2 lesser pandas.
2 elephants - adult female stereotypically bobbing and swaying.
1 mad boar pacing frantically in new glass fronted small cage.
lynx and others in the new pathetic cages.
capuchins, gibbons, golden monkeys.
lamas, deer, goral, ostriches, addax, goats, horses, camels, takins,
yak.
5 blue sheep.
polar bear, sun bear, moon bear (already in sleeping quarters so not
seen).
rabbits, ducks.
variety of monkeys.
For Photos of Chengdu, see:
http://www.aapn.org/chengduphot.html
Back to Zoo
Pages.
