Fiona Macleod A pack of 20 wild dogs, one of South Africa’s most endangered species, has been sold to a zoo in China where wild animals are kept in tiny cages and are forced to perform circus acts. Estimates of how many wild dogs there are left in South Africa range between 400 and 500. Scientists say they are on the brink of extinction and the only viable population left in the country is in the Kruger National Park. The 20 wild dogs, which were sold to the Dalian zoo in Laoning province, are part of a massive sell-off of South Africa’s wildlife heri-tage to China, where zoos and safari theme parks are a burgeoning business. Last week 150 wild animals from all over the country were flown to various Chinese zoos. Chinese brokers were visiting a quarantine facility near Brits this week to facilitate the sale of a further 180 animals, due to be sent to China in the next month. “What is happening is like the mass sale of Africans to North America in the days of slavery,” says Dr John Wedderburn, a member of the Asian Animal Protection Network who monitors conditions in the Chinese zoos. “There are no zoo regulations in China and there is no tradition of caring for animals. Generations of zoo animals are going to be born and sold to the worst zoos as well as the best.” Wedderburn says Dalian is building a new zoo that appears to have lots of space, but during a recent visit he found most of the animals there in tiny concrete and iron cages. The circus animals were kept in “beast wagons” with only enough room to stand up and turn round.
“The bears had rings through their noses or lips … and were displaying classic distress movements. Many of the monkeys were also out of their minds,” he says. One of the reasons wild dogs have become so endangered in the past century is that they need large home ranges to survive in the wild, though they appear to breed well in captivity. The 20 wild dogs were sold to the Dalian zoo by Lente Rhoode, owner of the Hoedspruit Research and Breeding Centre for Endangered Species in Northern Province. She says she decided to take up the zoo’s offer because she was struggling to sell the pack in Africa.
“So far I’m convinced the place they went to in China is OK,” she says. “But if I’m not happy with what happens to them, I’ll arrange to have them sterilised or bring them back.”