Beijing Zoo to fine visitors feeding animals

Beijing Zoo will hold a joint patrol with urban management officers to ban visitors from feeding and harming animals, Beijing Daily reported Wednesday.

Ju Hongbo, deputy director of the Beijing Zoo, said the joint patrol would conduct inspections and law enforcement to educate visitors on behaving properly.

Those who feed animals in forbidden areas will be fined 50 to 100 yuan in accordance with the Beijing Park Regulation.

Animal food is provided by zoo keepers with the correct nutrition. Visitors feeding animals break the nutritional balance and cause indigestion or worse, according to the zoo.

In 2015, three deer at Shanghai Zoo died after eating inedible material, including plastic bags, thrown by visitors.

Since mid-July this year, Beijing Zoo has dealt with more than 300 cases of animals being fed in forbidden areas. It has provided staff and audio guides for key areas, such as the waterfowl ponds and Monkey Hill, to dissuade people from feeding the animals.

Beijing Zoo has established feeding zones only in the giraffe pavilion and kids center, where zoo keepers will regularly provide a certain amount of food for visitors to feed the animals.