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Zoo gets more money after Siberian tigers die
March 14, 2010 09:39 EDT

BEIJING (AP) -- A city in northeastern China is spending more money to improve conditions at a zoo there, after the recent deaths of 11 rare Siberian tigers and other animals.

There were reports last week that the tigers starved to death in the past three months, after being fed nothing but chicken bones as the zoo ran into financial trouble. But a zoo manager says they died from disease.

China has been trying to save its dwindling number of tigers. Conservation efforts are under way, but animal protection groups say zoos and wildlife parks may be deliberately breeding more animals they can afford, hoping to sell off the carcasses on the black market.

Siberian tigers are one of the world's rarest species, with an estimated 300 left in the wild, 50 in China. But more than 5,000 are held captive on farms and wildlife parks across China.

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