THE animals went in two by two, when they took up residence in Shenzhen's Safari Park at Xili Lake - the elephants and the kangaroo (from Brisbane, Shenzhen's so-called sister city), and lots and lots of tigers, too. And everyone said, 'Hurrah, hurrah!' That was back in 1993 when the park was launched as a private enterprise with plenty of money behind it, and an urge to prove that China, which does not have a good animal rights record, was capable of running a world-class operation.
The cheering has not exactly stopped, but it is certainly growing more muted. The original pleasant surprise with which the 1.2 million-square-metre project was greeted has, like a bear whose coat is inexorably losing its gloss, dipped in lustre value. A succession of animal welfare groups has trotted across the border from Hong Kong to assess the park; tails have drooped between legs on the homeward journey after some of these visits. The November 1993 trip by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was a particular low point.
'Oh my goodness,' sighs Jill Robinson, IFAW's Asia representative, at the memory. 'We found a really big contrast to other visits. There were Asiatic black bearcubs in small cages, various birds seemed to be diseased, there was an animal parade with bears in skirts and we witnessed live chickens being thrown to the tigers. After that, we started encouraging people to write to the manager.' The tigers no longer lunch on flying fowl thanks, in part, to publicity in this newspaper. But IFAW, which is the world's largest animal welfare organisation, would like to see other improvements at Xili Lake.
It was to this end - and to keep the diplomatic channels of communication open - that on a cold, grey Sunday a couple of weeks ago, Robinson travelled up to Shenzhen with Dr John Wedderburn, vice-president of EarthCare, and Virginia McKenna, actress and trustee of the foundation which bears the name of her most famous film - Born Free, the story of Elsa the lioness. This was a journey which was ostensibly about animals, but when the team headed back to Hong Kong six hours later, what had really taken place was a collision between two cultures.
IT IS an unfortunate piece of timing that just as China is opening up those zoos which it hopes will garner worldwide respect, the whole concept of the zoo itself has become politically incorrect in the West. (Wedderburn's assessments of Xili Lake were usually prefaced by the remark, 'If you agree with zoos - which, of course, I don't ...') The Hong Kong group, however, was determined to think positive thoughts about the Shenzhen Safari Park. Robinson, in particular, has put considerable effort into building good relations with the management, especially Ling Dongkong, the park's vice-president: 'I think he is very sincere and wants to do the best he can to help us make this a good zoo,' she said.
No money seems to have been spared in the layout of Xili Lake. The main avenue is lined with 34 larger-than-life and faintly grotesque stone animals, which cost $2 million, and there are wide sweeps of landscaped gardens, topiaries, pavilions and animal enclosures. Shuttle buses scoop up the hordes of visitors who have paid 60 yuan (HK$54, 70 yuan on a weekend) to be whisked around the spacious compound. Those who are waiting in line can admire the pets in the Iams-sponsored shop at the entrance.