Xiongsen Tiger and Bear Farm
A recent article in The Guardian relays another cable from wikileaks detailing an undercover visit by American embassy staff to a tiger farm near Guilin in Guizhou province in China. An American diplomat purportedly went to the farm in the guise of a Korean tourist. Here is an excerpt from the Guardian article:
As a result of the undercover visit to Xiongsen Tiger and Bear Farm, the US government was notified of doubts about China’s conservation efforts, according to a diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks.
The investigation – more a piece of journalism than spying – was inspired by a flurry of foreign media reports in the spring of 2007 alleging the farm offered tiger meat in its restaurant and tiger bone wine in a shop.
In a cable sent from the Guangzhou US consulate titled Devouring Dragon, Disappearing Tigers, an un-named economics officer (referred to as Econoff in the cable) said that he was initially treated with suspicion by the sales personnel in the facility. But once he convinced them he was Korean, they became eager to do business.
I visited there myself in mid 2009 and the Guardian article reminded me of the experience and thought it an opportune time to write up a brief description of my experience there before I let it go any longer. I had no disguise although the local Tourist Office after initially denying the place existed attempted to persuade me not to seek other means of going. The tourist office tried to impress upon me the unsuitability of this circus for Western sensibilities. This of course gave me further motivation to find someone willing to bring me to the place and I managed to arrange a trip after a little persuasion with an ‘independent tour operator’ (hereon known as ‘the ‘Fixer’). Myself and two companions were provided with two tour guides and a bus and left early the next morning in an attempt to make the star show: fight of the beasts. The man I had arranged transport with also came as he had never seen this show and was quite excited about the prospect of seeing it. We were in the funny situation of being three foreigners with three tour guides. In case the reader suspects that these guides were something more than being just guides, no they were not. One guide, one trainee guide and the Fixer.
The morning started hot, wet and raining which is typical of the weather for the time of year we were there. Our anticipation grew as we travelled in the small mini-bus. We had heard stories of what happens at this farm and had all agreed it worthwhile to see, even if we disagreed with what happens there (should it be true). Intrigued and worried in equal measure, though perhaps more intrigued than worried as we did see the trip through to the end. After a short drive we arrived and entered the infamous farm.
After paying for our tickets (and the tickets for our guides) we entered with no fuss and were immediately struck by the lack of people. Something tourists are used to in China are overwhelming numbers of people at any major attractions. So the lack of tourists at what is supposedly a tourist attraction near Guilin, a place that itself is a tourism mecca for foreign and domestic tourists alike was quite unusual. We were first brought to the ‘circus’ which was halfway finished through the routine to the great disappointment of the Fixer. The Fixer was worried that we had arrived late and he did not know if the Great Fight was the first or last event in the day’s routine. We trailed his hurried wake into the circus.
Again, as can be judged somewhat by the photo, the lack of spectators was unusual with maybe ten or eleven people watching on. In fact they were watching us coming in rather than the show, the sight of three white Europeans entering was quite a shock to them and something they found amusing. The circus was what you might expect from any animal circus in most countries although I did not expect to see a goat walk along a flat bar with its four hooves directly inline, standing on its’ hind feet at one end with a monkey doing a handstand on the goats horns. I must immediately apologise for the lack of photos. Photos and video were forbidden and my batteries ran out during the first 30 minutes of entering the farm. I mentioned this to one of the staff and they directed me towards a shop on site that sold many kinds of batteries that would ensure I had power for the rest of the day. This kind of apparent contradiction between what is forbidden and yet provided-for is extremely common in China. My problem unfortunately was that my SD card was practically fully from previous trips resulting in having to delete photos by judging what more important photos I might see later in the day. A rookie mistake and one I am not likely to make ever again. I even had to delete the ‘Photography Forbidden Notice’ which was a real shame and would no doubt have been a prize entry to those many website catering for funny Chinese signs and mistranslations.
After the circus we left and were told we were free to wander around for ten minutes but with a stern warning from the Fixer: if we were to see a tiger on the loose and moving towards us we were to run as fast as possible for the main entrance gate, some Japanese tourists had died the previous year apparently. Left with these words of wisdom (that took us a moment for us to digest) we moved slowly further into the farm.
Strolling in a bit further we saw bears, hundreds of them, I have never before or since seen so many bears in the one place. I was informed that they had about 300 bears and 1000 tigers that they were very successful in breeding both and were now branching into other animals such as crocodiles.
The quite morning air was broken only by the sounds of recurring bear fights. Nearly every 5 to ten minutes some two bears would half heartedly test each other’s strength in what was nearly a playful manner save for the obvious brute physical strength being used. After the interval we were called and met up again with our guides who brought us to a grandstand and we sat down not sure what was going to happen next. The Fixer was still concerned that we had missed the Great Fight of the Two Beasts and was impatient for whatever this was to be over so he might find out. In front of us was what looked very much like a greyhound track with an inner smaller track and a grassy centre inside that again. I was only just beginning to take in the scene when I was shocked to see a tiger led out by rope towards where we were sitting. As the tiger was brought directly in front of us, I looked intently in admiration of the safety barrier between the tiger and myself and my companions which you will see in the second photo.
It took what felt like minutes for the tiger’s keeper to tie the animal down onto his pedestal four benches in front of us. I was only getting used to the shock of seeing the tiger so close when I was dismayed to see a bear being led out by the nose towards a chair on the right of our group. The anthropomorphic form of the bear walking and sitting very upsetting; my travelling companions were vocally more distraught while concurrently the Fixer was cheered up and forgetting about his worries that he had missed the fight and was settling down to enjoy this show with full rapt attention. Once the tiger was secure members of the audience were invited to rub or hit the tiger on the head as two individuals did. We did not partake.
This appeared to be the only purpose for this segment of the show as after about 10 minutes the animals were led away again. Once they were removed (during which time a heavily pregnant local woman stood beside the tiger as he was being untied and walked away) four young tigers, just above knee high were brought out towards us in the outer ring of the track. This track was surrounded by waste high fencing that would have been no obstacle for the young tigers to jump. We were invited to come forward and feed the tigers with raw pork using tongs no longer than the domestic kitchen equivalent. We duly performed what was requested of us and it was very enjoyable, forgetting for a moment that we were holding raw meat in one hand and trying to pet them with our other. The tigers were hungry but very docile and showed no interest in our fingers while the meat was in front of them. I had requested the Fixer take a photo of us though he could not work my camera and I lost proof of my bravery in feeding some young docile tigers by hand. Following this a loudspeaker announced the next performance. It was to be a re-enactment of a story about the monkey-king, a famous and popular Chinese myth. The show started with a procession of various animals around the track in front of us with acrobats and trainers guiding the animals. Some of the acrobats and trainers were quite young children and gave the impression of a family run business.
The Fixer was avidly interested in all that was happening at this stage and made a decent job of finding out more information about the activities here. What elements of information I received are or are not true I cannot know so please take everything with your own judgement. It appears that after an initial number of animals were captured and replenished for a few years due to deaths the farm was now very successful in breeding their stock and no longer captured animals from the wild. I was also informed that generally the animals were not fed meat but a vitamin and vegetable diet to ensure docility. (I have heard of tigers being fed solely on vegetables and non-meat products in India where Buddhist monks feed local tigers). The farm had been set up on the belief that the government would legalise bred-for-purpose tiger and bear products for the massive Chinese medicine market. It was supposed that the Chinese government were to legalise it under international pressure to curtail the black market in hunting wild and endangered animals. As it still remains illegal the farm cannot make enough money to operate so they resorted to the circus kind of operation that is presented above yet I could not imagine due to the small number of tourists that this was bringing in much money at all. They argued that they still believe the government will eventually legalise sale-of-parts for medicine and I got the impression that the farm was only open because of government contacts. This would be normal in and of itself for large or special commercial operations in China. They further argued that if this could be legalised and soon (so that they could stay in business due to current financial pressures) they would even be able to help replenish the wild and dwindling stocks yet concurrently meet domestic demand for medicinal products. This was sure to be an exaggeration but it contains only their hopes for commercial success for the future. Certainly they are successful at breeding, given the right incentive there is no reason why they could facilitate a complete halt to the black market trading in endangered animals. If it is the case – as purported by some media reports and American embassy staff – that tiger and bear products are sold secretly at the site, is it any worse than customers going to black market where wild animals are captured and traded. Surely it is better – though it must also be the case that it is currently not properly regulated due to the illegality of those purported sales. The farm finds itself already prepared for a business it believed to be made legal yet remains out of reach. As a result they have resorted to making money via the circus route with scenes I am sure many reading here will have found discomforting if not upsetting. There are certainly ethical quandaries from this situation. I am not best qualified to solve them but present them here so that some from-the-ground description might fruitfully add to discussions about methods of protecting endangered animals but also treating animals humanely.
The Fixer got to see the Great Fight of the Beasts. The last event of the day was held in a pen less than half an acre in size. Inside in this pen was a cow and once the spectators were all present on a viewing balcony 8 feet from the ground they released the other beast. A tiger entered lazily and gave off the distinct air of having done all this before as it half-heartedly moved towards the cow. There was intent in the eyes of the tiger, she was certainly interested in her prey but only meagrely stalked and dashed at the cow apparently knowing that the cow had no where to run and the result was inevitable. The tiger was quite right. This was what we had come to see not knowing if our expectations would be met. The Fixer was overjoyed at having not missed this spectacle. There was no gore, no drama, it was an enjoyable surprise to see the calmness, ease and naturalness of the whole affair. (Apart from the whole intentional act of leaving a cow into a ring with a tiger and no avenue of escape.) The tiger brought the cow down quickly and clasped its jaws around the throat and applied pressure, suffocating the cow. No blood, no fight, the tiger lay down in company with the cow as it drained its life force. What happened next was much more unnatural and seemed an affront to the efforts of both cow and tiger. Upon death the staff entered the pen and removed the cow before the tiger could enjoy the fruits of his efforts.
After the main event many of the spectators made for the on-site restaurant. We were moved away towards the exit rather then entering the restaurant being told the dishes being sold were too expensive for us to afford. There was no doubt as to the main dish being served ‘cow killed by tiger‘. I will finish this post with a photo of the most striking image we saw that day and it is as you see it. No safety nets, no costumes, no trickery of photography.
