Tigery tightrope tot
A Chinese zoo that let a three-year-old girl walk on a thin wire above six hungry tigers has been criticised.
The spectacle took place at Changzhou Yancheng Zoo in eastern China's Jiangsu province.
A 130-metre-long wire was strung up 8m above the tiger enclosure as six Siberian tigers wandered below. Two young men dressed in red began the performance with one cycling along the wire while the other clung to a steel ladder that hung beneath. Things became little hectic however when, as they reached the middle of the enclosure, one of the tigers leapt up and grabbed onto the bottom of the ladder.
Despite this hiccup three-year-old Zhang Xiaoyan was up next and she stepped out onto the thin wire amid the presence of strong winds. Due to the strong gusts Xiaoyan seemed unsteady and on her very first step was nearly blown off, arousing terrified screams from visitors watching below.
