
South China Morning Post · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from RSS
A Chinese zoo has been accused of using old videos of a tiger cub to attract donations after she died, triggering public controversy. The Puyang Central Zoo, a privately run zoo in Puyang city in central China’s Henan province, was reported to have been using old videos of a dead tiger cub to keep tricking “sponsorship fees” from live-stream viewers. On February 10, local authorities confirmed the case and announced its decision to suspend the zoo’s operations and place its director under a...
A Chinese zoo has been accused of using old videos of a tiger cub to attract donations after she died, triggering public controversy.The Puyang Central Zoo, a privately run zoo in Puyang city in central China’s Henan province, was reported to have been using old videos of a dead tiger cub to keep tricking “sponsorship fees” from live-stream viewers.On February 10, local authorities confirmed the case and announced its decision to suspend the zoo’s operations and place its director under a rectification programme.Nuannuan, the Siberian tiger which is at the centre of the animal park row. Photo: DouyinPreviously, sharp-eyed online observers noticed the zoo’s tiger keeper, Zhang Lina, live-streamed its star Siberian tiger cub, Nuannuan, while using old footage of her or by filming another tiger cub.It turned out that Nuannuan had died from feline distemper and the zoo concealed the truth.The zoo charges 20 yuan (US$3) for adults and 10 yuan for children. However, its major income is reportedly donations from viewers attracted to online live-streams of its animals.The video clips on Zhang’s account, which has 2.7 million followers, show that Zhang asks for tips from viewers to “feed” the animals virtually.An image from a video shows Nuannuan tucking into a sizeable chunk of meat. Photo: Douyin