INTERNATIONAL animal welfare groups are concerned that Shenzhen's new safari park might become a centre for animal abuse.
They are worried the 120 animals from Hong Kong's Lai Chi Kok amusement park, who went to Shenzhen this summer when their own zoo was closed, have been transferred from one hellish existence to another.
''I thought it would be like a refuge centre for animals from terrible zoos, so they could live in pleasant conditions until the end of their lives,'' said actress and zoo campaigner Virginia McKenna of the Born Free Foundation.
''But now I find it's like a circus, with a lot of animals in tiny cages. I'm appalled.'' Her feelings were echoed by representatives from the RSPCA and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
A reconnaissance visit this week to the Shenzhen zoo - at Xili lake, about 45 minutes' drive from the border - revealed that while some animals are housed in large grassy compounds, many others were in bare concrete-lined cages and show early signs of madness.
And a few unlucky specimens that had been recruited into the twice-daily animal act were in even smaller cages and show clear signs of abuse.
Four rare Himalayan bears had rings attached to rope leads pierced through their mouths. Brightly-clad clowns and dancing girls forced them to walk and stand by pulling the string.