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Park denies selling liquor made from tiger bones
By Cao Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-11 06:28
SHANGHAI: An investigation has been launched to examine allegations that
Shanghai Wild Animals Park has been selling a health tonic made of tiger bones,
which a representative has denied.
The News Times claimed on Friday that the park had been offering an illegal
drink said to alleviate the symptoms of arthritis and other complaints.
A reporter previously called the park, pretending to be a businessman
interested in purchasing the special potion.
Mr Xia from the Animals Department asked the reporter to call a manager
surnamed Xue, who assured the caller that "jian gu jiu," which literally means
liquor for bone health, is made of tiger bone.
But a park spokesperson from the general manager's office denied the
existence of the men mentioned in the newspaper report.
The Wild Animal Protection Administrative Centre under the city's Landscape
and Forestry Bureau sent investigators to the park on Friday afternoon.
The News Times quoted Xue as saying the park simply provides tiger bone to a
liquor factory in the suburban Fengxian District. Xue explained the name of the
park features on the packaging to attract customers.
According to Xue, the bones come from tigers that have died of illness or
been killed by buses carrying tourists. But there have not been any reports of
tigers dying in such accidents in recent years. The hunting and selling of
endangered wild animals was banned in China two decades ago.
(China Daily 02/11/2006 page2)
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