Park denies selling liquor made from tiger bones
By Cao Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-11 06:28

SHANGHAI: An investigation has been launched to examine allegations that Shanghai Wild Animals Park has been selling a health tonic made of tiger bones, which a representative has denied.

The News Times claimed on Friday that the park had been offering an illegal drink said to alleviate the symptoms of arthritis and other complaints.

A reporter previously called the park, pretending to be a businessman interested in purchasing the special potion.

Mr Xia from the Animals Department asked the reporter to call a manager surnamed Xue, who assured the caller that "jian gu jiu," which literally means liquor for bone health, is made of tiger bone.

But a park spokesperson from the general manager's office denied the existence of the men mentioned in the newspaper report.

The Wild Animal Protection Administrative Centre under the city's Landscape and Forestry Bureau sent investigators to the park on Friday afternoon.

The News Times quoted Xue as saying the park simply provides tiger bone to a liquor factory in the suburban Fengxian District. Xue explained the name of the park features on the packaging to attract customers.

According to Xue, the bones come from tigers that have died of illness or been killed by buses carrying tourists. But there have not been any reports of tigers dying in such accidents in recent years. The hunting and selling of endangered wild animals was banned in China two decades ago.

(China Daily 02/11/2006 page2)