A Chinese zoo has been criticised for allowing visitors to pet - and even pretend to ride - a tiger.
Tourists at Wenzhou Zoo, Zhejiang province, can pose for pictures while they pretend to ride the tiger, reports Wenzhou Metropolis News.
The zoo has daily big cat shows, and invites visitors to come up and touch the tiger after a 20-minute performance.
Three men keep an eye on the tiger while a fourth takes photographs and a woman charges 30 yuan (£2.85) a time for taking the pictures.
The woman insisted it was completely safe as the tiger was tame and its teeth and claws had been filed down.
But tourist Lao Shibo protested that the practice was "incredibly dangerous" and amounted to "animal abuse".
"The zoo shouldn't allow a tiger to pose for pictures with people, for both safety reasons and for animal rights," he said.
A zoo spokesman said the performance was put on by an animal troupe which was not part of the zoo but which rented space for their show.
Source : http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Zoo_lets_visitors_ride_tiger
