A GUILIN game park exposed for its sale of illegal animal products and cruel conduct has stopped feeding live beasts to tigers as a tourist attraction, the Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation said. The group's executive director, Jill Robinson, said yesterday she had met China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) officials on Thursday. The CWCA forced the Xiongshen Bear and Tiger Mountain Village to end the barbaric feedings after repeated warnings from Beijing were ignored. Park owner and Hong Kong businessman Zhou Weisen confirmed all live feedings had been cancelled since last Monday, though the park remained open. CWCA chief Huang Jianhua flew to the park in Guangxi province two weeks ago after a Sunday Morning Post investigation revealed it was feeding live domestic animals to tigers in front of jeering onlookers. The park also served tiger, lion and bear meat in its restaurant. 'The CWCA has assured us that it will remain vigilant and continue to check on the park to ensure the wildness training [live feedings] has stopped and that no illegal tiger products are being sold on the premises,' Ms Robinson said. 'If it does, we have been told there will be serious consequences for the park. 'I think both Mr Zhou and the Guilin Tourism Bureau [which is a part-owner of the park] realise how damaging this could be to Guilin's tourism industry.' The park, which claims to be 'the largest base for science, breeding and wildlife of tigers and black bears in the world', houses more than 200 big cats and 90 endangered black Asiatic bears. Ms Robinson said the animal rights group had been invited by the CWCA to help draw up official ethics regulations for the treatment of animals in captivity to be put in place early next year. 'Our main target is to help push through draft legislation protecting all animals in captivity,' she said. International Fund For Animal Welfare China director Grace Gabriel, who also met CWCA officials on Thursday, said the Guilin park owners had been reluctant to give up the lucrative local tourist attractions. 'It seems [they] have invested very heavily in it,' she said, referring to the Guilin Tourist Bureau.
