A REPTILIAN amusement park in China is trying to lure Hong Kong's elderly across the border with offers of free housing and health care.
But local human rights activists have slammed the move, accusing park owners of doing nothing more than trying to create a human zoo.
The Flying Dragon Amusement Park in Panyu, famed for its millions of snakes, attracts three million people a year, including 750,000 from Hong Kong.
Among its most popular attractions are bikini girls dancing in snake pits and a hair-raising cobra-kissing show. In its Longevity Garden, about 20 centenarians are on a snake-based health programme.
In a parade to celebrate the park's second birthday last month, the elderly residents were wheeled out with snake-draped bikini girls.
But the park denied the offer was a publicity stunt designed to boost sales of its snake products, said to prolong life.
The park's managing director and founder Qian Longfei said it was a charitable exercise. 'We are going to put advertisements in Hong Kong newspapers to invite more elderly Chinese from across the border to come to our place,' he said.