Update | ‘Obese’ Siberian tigers in China zoo raise giggles but also health concerns
Animal welfare groups say it’s unhealthy for the caged cats to get so fat despite Chinese state media saying it's natural for them to pile on the kilos for winter
Photos that went viral of tubby Siberian tigers at a Chinese zoo have sparked concern among animal welfare organisations after state media said it was “natural” for the animals to pile on the weight for winter.
Images of a group of the obese-looking Siberian tigers lolling around in the state-run Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, went viral online recently with many social media users joking that the caged cats had, like them, been too well fed over the Lunar New Year holiday.
The set of photos were first posted by the local tourism department on its official Weibo account on January 26.
After some internet users raised concerns about the animals’ health, the official People’s Daily newspaper carried an article reassuring readers that the fat tigers were normal.