Some time ago, the news of "20 Siberian tigers died in Fuyang Wildlife Park" attracted attention.
According to the response of the local forestry department, the Siberian tiger on display at Fuyang Wildlife Park is leased from Fuyang take-off domestication and performance Co., Ltd.
In this regard, the Information Office of Fuyang City people's Government issued a circular saying that an investigation team composed of municipal multi-departments and Yingdong District Government was set up locally to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the death of wild animals, and the follow-up investigation and disposal will be announced to the public in a timely manner.
With the incident exposed, the animal rental business has once again become the focus of attention.
Tianyan survey data show that there are more than 40 animal rental-related enterprises. From the perspective of regional distribution, it is mainly in Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.
However, typing "animal rental" into the search platform will pop up a large number of publicity from animal leasing companies, claiming that they can undertake warm-up activities, mall exhibitions, circuses, and so on. Most of these companies are called "special farms", "exhibition planning and cultural companies", and so on.
A reporter from time Weekly found that the rental price of animals is related to the varieties of animals. Take a leasing company in Jining as an example, renting penguins for 5 days.Daiwaballistict3The price of a lion is 30 to 40 thousand a month, and the price of a tiger is 50 to 60 thousand a month.
When asked what kind of qualifications they need, most of them disagree. "renting doesn't require qualifications. If you know someone, it's just a meal or a cigarette." "if there is no local trouble, no one will make trouble."
What kind of business is animal rental?
Animal leasing is a common practice.
How many companies are related to animal rental?
A reporter from time Weekly made an inquiry and found that up to now, there are more than 40 animal rental related enterprises. From the perspective of regional distribution, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu have the largest number of related enterprises, with 17, 6 and 4 respectively.
However, a large number of animal rental companies will appear when searching for "animal rental" on platforms such as Baidu and Douyin, involving warm-up activities, mall exhibitions, circus shows and other businesses.
Most of the animal leasing companies come from Jining, Shandong, and are cut off from an e-commerce platform.
A reporter from time Weekly found that most of these animal rental companies are in villages. According to the home page of one of the companies, it is a comprehensive company that mainly provides animal exhibitions and performances, including sea lion shows, circus performances, alpaca exhibitions, and so on. Year-round for local real estate opening celebrations, television program recording, company opening celebrations, shopping mall activities to provide animal rental and performances.
At the same time, the web page displays photos of various animal performances, including sea lion shows, photos of spectators and alpacas, ponies, penguins and so on.
A list provided by the staff of another company shows that there are nearly 100 kinds of animals that can be rented and sold, including alpacas, Debao ponies, camels, sika deer, big-tailed blue peacocks, black swans, ostriches, marmots, red kangaroos, red-necked kangaroos, and so on.
Behind the animal rental is the hot demand for animal performances in the market.
The moments of the above staff post short videos about "loading and shipping" of animals almost every day, covering places such as Sichuan, Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Shanxi and Henan.
Some staff also said that the animal show business is booming. "the penguin schedule is full, and we have to wait until after the summer vacation at the earliest."
"renting is very common in zoos and wildlife businesses." Hu Chunmei, head of China's "Save the Animals performance Project," told time Weekly that in the process of following up the case intervention, it is true that between many zoos, between zoos and circuses, there is a business of renting animals between circuses and different breeders and exhibition venues, such as shopping malls.
According to Hu Chunmei, in China, many animal species are imported from abroad, and after coming to China, they need to rely on a relatively large institution and then lease them to small zoos. Small zoos may not be qualified for import.
Hu Chunmei points out that land animals, such as tigers, lions, giraffes, and aquatic animals, such as beluga whales, dolphins, and sea lions, can all be rented, but because they belong to different competent departments because of different levels of protection and different aquatic and land animals, they will be slightly different in procedures and management. "not to protect animals, you don't need qualifications, the only procedure involved is animal quarantine."
She said that most animals are rented to perform, in addition to zoos, aquariums such as fixed places, there are a large number of mobile performances, such as in the streets, or holidays, store festivals, may appear in shopping malls or buildings.
"just afraid of getting into trouble during the performance."
What is the price for renting these animals, whether and what qualifications are required?
Time Weekly reporter as a consultant asked a number of companies, the staff of a special farm said that if you need to do warm-up performances in the mall, you can rent penguins, sea lions, alpacas, sika deer, peacocks and other animals. Take renting for 5 days as an example, the price of renting a penguin is 4.Daiwaballistict3.50,000, the packing price for each alpaca, sika deer and peacock is 35000, and the price for a sea lion bag is 40,000, which is "mainly expensive in travel expenses and labor."
The promotional page of the rental merchant is truncated from an e-commerce platform
Staff said that the rental of any animal will be accompanied by a breeder, penguin will be accompanied by a matching penguin glass room, which has air conditioning and purifier, can be put on display inside the mall, but not outside.
When asked what qualifications are needed for leasing sea lions and penguins, the staff member said, "if you rent, you don't need any qualifications, just for fear that someone will report to the scene to find trouble." The other party also suggested that if there is someone you know in the mall, say hello to the local forestry bureau or the industry and commerce bureau in advance.
Another company also said that there is no need to report renting penguins, while renting sea lions needs to report to the local fisheries administration department, "just for fear that people will get into trouble during the performance." You don't need a license to operate and use. Like you all know people locally, you can solve the problem with a meal or a cigarette. It's very simple. "
Later, the other party said, "you can go to the Culture Bureau or the Forestry Bureau." However, for a performance like this for two or three days, it is no problem not to report, because the time is very short.
Sea lions are second-class protected animals in the country. For the exhibition of aquatic wildlife involving sea lions, according to the Wildlife Protection Law and the concession measures for the Utilization of Aquatic Wildlife, it is necessary to obtain a "domestication and breeding license" and a "Operation and Utilization license".
Hu Chunmei points out that when it comes to animal leasing, both the lessor and the borrower will involve "sale, purchase, and utilization." even if the lease is not a sale or purchase, it can at least constitute "utilization." for example, performance is a kind of utilization. Leasing is also a kind of utilization, so we should also obtain a "business utilization license."
When the time Weekly reporter asked whether the staff could produce a "domestication and breeding license", the staff began to "stumble."
The aforementioned staff member said, "Daiwaballistict3It's useless for me to show you this now. I'll show it to you when I sign the contract and pay a deposit. The staff of another special farm said, "you can't look at this thing casually. If we don't have the formalities and dare not take the job, don't worry."
The Beijing News disclosed in 2019 that many merchants in Jiaxiang County of Jining had lending documents and illegally leased and performed sea lions, that is, to borrow them.Daiwaballistict3His company's certificates carry out activities such as domestication and rental of sea lions, and a number of companies that claim to have a "domestication and breeding license" are in fact rented certificates from a circus in Anhui Province.
Is it illegal to rent animals? Xing Xin, a lawyer and senior partner of Hunan Jinzhou Law firm, told time Weekly that it is legal and effective for animals to be leased.
However, according to the second paragraph of Article 28 of the Wildlife Protection Law, the lease of wildlife under special state protection shall be approved by the competent department of wildlife protection of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and special marks shall be obtained and used in accordance with the provisions to ensure traceability.
In other words, it is illegal to obtain a special logo without approval.
According to the Wildlife Protection Law, the department in charge of wildlife protection and the market supervision and administration department of the people's government at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the division of duties, confiscate wild animals and their products and illegal income, order them to close down illegal business places, and impose a fine of not less than two times and not more than 20 times the value of wild animals and their products; if the circumstances are serious, the artificial breeding license shall be revoked, the approval documents shall be revoked, and the special marks shall be withdrawn. If the case constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law.
In addition, Xing Xin believes that it is obviously illegal for leasing merchants to encourage buyers to simplify the lease process through abnormal procedures. "if the approval process is simplified through abnormal procedures, the approval process will be accelerated because of personal relations. It may lead to the relaxation of approval standards and increase the cost of follow-up supervision and correction."
Tiger has the highest approval authority.
So, can large beasts such as tigers and lions be rented through the above channels?
According to the Wildlife Protection Law, tigers belong to the national first-class protected animals. For special circumstances requiring the sale, acquisition or use of wildlife or its products under first-level state protection, approval must be obtained from the department of wildlife administration under the State Council or the unit authorized by it.
Hu Chunmei told time Weekly that although tigers can also be rented, the authority for examination and approval of tigers is very high. All the authority for examination and approval is in the State Forestry and grassland Administration, not at the provincial or municipal level.
According to the conditions of the service guide for the administrative license project of the State Forestry and Grass Administration, if circuses or other units carry or lend wildlife exhibitions or performances, it is necessary to provide fixed places and breeding facilities and equipment, on-site pictures of the exhibition site, as well as detailed performance instructions and safety and escape prevention instructions, and affix the official seal of the provider of the performance venue. The performance venue with a permit for artificial breeding of wild animals shall be provided at the same time.
In the aforementioned special farm, when the reporter asked if lions and tigers could be rented for circus performances, the other side said, "Lions, bears, goats and monkeys are fine, but tigers are hard to say."
The reporter asked many times whether the tiger could be rented, but the other side did not deny it, but repeatedly stressed, "We'll talk about it then, but we can't be sure now."
As for the source of circus animals, the other party said that it is not their own breeding and breeding, but a circus with long-term cooperation.
"Lions, tigers, bears, goats, monkeys, together with acrobatics, set up a greenhouse performance, in which there are auditoriums that can hold 400 people, three performances a week, 20-30 minutes each, and the price of the whole circus is about 90,000 without tigers. Plus the tiger costs 120,000 to 30,000, which is the usual price. Holidays like May Day and National Day holiday are about thirty or forty thousand more expensive. "
Merchant propaganda
If it does not involve performances, but only as ornamental animals, whether tigers and lions can be rented for a long time, the other party says yes. "Young lions can be rented for 30,000 a month, and the price of the tiger is about fifty or six thousand months, but we are not sure yet."
As for the living space for lions and tigers, it is suggested that it should be at least 100 square meters. "the bigger the space for this large animal, the better."
In terms of rental procedures, the staff claimed that the tiger is a first-class protected animal, and the performance needs to follow legal procedures, but quickly added, "circus performances need to be approved by the forestry department and need to be reported to Beijing. The cycle is very long, and they can't come for a month. Generally speaking, where to do activities, such as worrying about local strict control, can be solved by saying hello to the relevant departments, which is very simple. "
"the process for a few days and months is the same. To follow the real process, it will take a long time, and the approval procedures are all the same. If you don't get into trouble locally, you can't find trouble anywhere else. It's very simple. " The above staff said.
Hu Chunmei said there may be regulatory loopholes when it comes to leasing first-level protected animals such as tigers. She once handled a case in which tigers and black bears were raised in a scenic spot in Jiangxi, but only in an iron cage.
She later discovered that the company had only obtained permission for artificial breeding of sika deer issued by the Jiangxi Provincial Forestry Department in 2017 and had not obtained any permission from the State Forestry and Grass Administration, that is, the company did not have any qualifications for tiger breeding.
Later, she received a reply from the local forestry bureau that the Siberian tiger was rented from the zoo, but there was no safety hazard and did not affect the growth of the animal. "the two scenic spots and zoos have not been punished."
Non-compliant leasing does great harm to animals.
Hu Chunmei pointed out that the lender may not have the conditions and skills to raise. After the animals are transported, their basic rights to survival cannot be guaranteed, which may lead to abnormal behavior, diseases, and even death.
"Animals performing on mobile shows are even worse because they also involve long-distance transportation and climate change, and the mortality rate is even higher. These performance animals are basically kept in smaller cages. If they are large elephants, they will be trapped, and their basic rights to survival cannot be guaranteed." Hu Chunmei said.
In addition, in non-fixed and non-professional venues, animals can easily be in a stressed state, or the hirer's staff are not professional, which can easily lead to safety accidents.
For example, in September 2019, while a circus was performing in the countryside in Xinxiang, Henan Province, a tiger climbed over a railing and escaped. It was caught under anesthesia the next morning and died on the way to the local zoo for rescue. The tiger was rented by a circus in Anhui to a circus in Henan, but neither of the two circuses had the qualifications or licenses to raise, perform or use tigers.
In May 2021, in Danjiang Peacock Valley Park, Xichuan County, Henan Province, a keeper was bitten and died unfortunately. Two tigers also fled after biting the keeper. They were eventually killed after being trapped repeatedly.
Hu Chunmei believes that at present, the law has limited restrictions on the scope of leasing and animal living conditions, and there is a lack of daily supervision of the industry, such as the environment of the zoo, under what circumstances animals need intervention and treatment mechanisms, and what to do with animals after the zoo is closed. "Even after obtaining a license, many times we rely on companies to proactively inform the number and status of animals, but in fact many companies do not have this consciousness." Hu Chunmei added.