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| A six-year-old girl has been killed by a tiger at a zoo in Kunming in south-western China's Yunnan province.
The girl was posing for photographs with the tiger when it was startled by camera flashes and pulled the girl's head into its mouth, state media said. Staff beat the tiger until it released the girl, but she had suffered a crushed skull and died in hospital. The zoo has stopped allowing visitors to pose with its tigers for a charge of $2 (£1), Xinhua news agency said. The girl was identified as Rui Xin. Her mother was bitten on the arm while trying to rescue her. A local newspaper said the zoo had been charging visitors for the opportunity to pose with the tiger since May 2005. |
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6390005.stm
I wouldn't allow my kids to be photographed next to any wild animal. This is exactly why.
I feel so much for the parents and I am not going to take the easy route and start pointing fingers.
I just hope that parents realise when you do this type of thing you are putting the life of your child into the hands of strangers. You are trusting them to say that it is safe to do this type of thing.
There are plenty of instances of animals like this turning on their own keepers - surely this proves you cannot guarantee the safety of your kids so in my mind it is too much of a risk.
I might be a boring parent and my kids might think I am a killjoy but better a killjoy than having to bury your own child.
This is so sad and so needless.
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