An animal welfare group based in Hong Kong called Animals Asia Foundation has released a shocking report on the state of performing animals in China. The report makes shocking revelations about how animals in Chinese Zoos and Parks are treated cruelly in order to make them perform tricks.

The 28 page report is based on a study of thirteen safari parks and zoos across China, which took more than a year to conclude. The report details how Black Bears are beaten with sticks and whipped in order to make them perform. The bears are trained in this way to ride tricycles, bicycles, horses, box each other, carry out acrobatic stunts and balance on balls.

Lions and Tiger, on the other hand, suffer even worse fates. The animals have their teeth pulled out so that they will be safer to handle. This brutal act leaves the nerve endings in their mouth exposed and in turn cause them even more pain. They are then trained to do various tricks including jumping through burning hoops. Recently at a zoo in the northeast, eleven Siberian Tigers died after being fed only chicken bones for several weeks.

The animals were also reported to be kept in small, cramped cages or concrete enclosures which left them susceptible to various physical ailments and diseases. In many cases, the animals also had no ready access to water.

The State Forestry Administration has recently begun an operation to monitor the welfare of captive animals. Whether it will be successful is something that time can only tell. Until then, these performing animals seem to have nothing but a painful life and death in their future.