Source: The Paper
On May 26, the gate of Danjiang Peacock Valley Scenic Area in Xichuan County, Henan Province was locked. Visitors were told that the scenic area had been closed for rectification and could apply for a refund. The Paper reporter saw through the door that the scenic area is located in mountains and hills, with uneven terrain and lush vegetation.
Xichuan.com previously reported that on May 25, an emergency occurred in Peacock Valley where two tigers ran out of the iron cage. The injured keeper Jia Moumou died after failed rescue efforts. After the incident, the Xichuan County Party Committee and County Government quickly launched an emergency plan, organized relevant personnel from the county's emergency, public security, armed police, forestry, fire protection, health and Shangji Town and other units to rush to the scene for emergency response, and organized unrelated personnel in the valley and the people around Peacock Valley to quickly evacuate. The two tigers that were out of the cage were controlled in Peacock Valley. After several entrapment, they were shot dead one after another.
A person familiar with the matter who asked to be anonymous said that at that time, the breeder Jia did not close the tiger's outer circle door. After the tiger ran out, Jia tried to drive the tiger back to the tiger's circle, but failed.
26, Du Junhui, a fourth-level researcher at Xichuan County Emergency Management Bureau, told The Paper that after the incident, the county has established a joint investigation team composed of the Public Security, Forestry, Tourism, Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission and other departments to speed up the investigation and handling of the matter in accordance with the law.
Peacock Valley Scenic Area Pengpai News reporter Duan Yanchao Picture
Scenic Area has been closed for rectification. Eyewitnesses tell the story of
information shows that Peacock Valley is located in Zhuyuan Village, Shangji Town, Xichuan County, with an area of more than 1,300 acres. It is a large peacock-themed rural tourism demonstration park developed by Henan Shangsheng Agriculture and Forestry Development Co., Ltd.
Peacock Valley An insider who asked to be anonymous said that the three tigers in the scenic area were all artificially domesticated Bengal tiger . Two of them were introduced at the end of 2019, and the other was introduced in February this year. They were only exhibitions and did not involve performances. When introduced, the circus keepers stayed in the scenic area for a while and trained the scenic area keepers. The tiger rings in the scenic area are professionally designed and divided into inner rings and outer rings. The gate between the inner ring and the outer ring can be operated outside the tiger ring. Therefore, both feeding and cleaning can be isolated and operated. It is very safe if you operate according to the specifications.
"After he (the breeder Jia Moumou) cleaned the outer ring, he did not lock the outer ring door when he came out, but opened the fence between the inner ring and the outer ring. The tiger ran out directly after going from the inner ring to the outer ring." The person introduced that Jia Moumou was 59 years old this year and is a local villager. He went to the scenic spot in October 2020 and was mainly responsible for feeding three tigers. The person said that Jia Moumou is usually very responsible and cannot figure out why he made a mistake that day.
The insider told The Paper that two tigers ran out of the outer circle one after another and stayed in the square in front of the outer circle. After Jia Moumou discovered it, he waved his hand seven or eight meters away and tried to drive the tiger back to the tiger circle, but failed.
Later, Jia Moumou tried to lure the tiger with a duck, but failed.
Insider told The Paper that after the incident, Jia Moumou did not report in time. At around 8:30 am on May 25, he went to the scenic spot for inspection. When he was checking in front of the wild boar pen in front of the tiger circle, he suddenly heard Jia Moumou shouting "The tiger ran out." After seeing another look, a tiger was 3 meters away, staring at him with a duck in his mouth. Jia Moumou was 20 meters away. The insider was trembling because he had trained and knew that for artificially domesticated tigers, as long as they hold a stick in their hands, the tiger would be afraid to leave. He searched around but couldn't find the stick. "It's not right to run, it's not right not to run." He knew that he could not turn his back to the tiger, so he could only stare at the tiger and slowly retreat. Fortunately, the tiger only stared at him but was not chasing him.
The insider said that he retreated to the steps five or six meters away and found that the tiger was not looking at him, "and ran away immediately."
The person familiar with the matter said that after he reported to the leadership, he organized evacuation of employees and prohibited all tourists from entering. After that, he drove with his colleagues to the vicinity of the tiger circle and found that Jia was covered in blood, lying in the grass, and the tiger was still circling around Jia. Afterwards, the colleagues also drove over. Everyone took sticks and drove the unconscious Jia into the car and rushed to the hospital. The doctor said he was in danger of his life.
On the same day, the Xichuan County Forestry Bureau issued a notice of closure and rectification to Peacock Valley. The notice stated, "Because there are risks in your unit's large-scale animal breeding, a ferocious beast fleeing incident has been caused, a notice of closure and rectification has been issued to your unit." The notice requires Peacock Valley to investigate the reasons for the animal fleeing, count and verify the number of ferocious beasts in stock, and confirm that there are no other fleeing animals. At the same time, Peacock Valley is required to comprehensively investigate management loopholes and safety hazards, and rectify problems such as lax implementation of rules and regulations, inadequate protection of facilities and equipment, and untimely emergency response.
The person familiar with the matter said that before the incident, the company's large beasts were three tigers, two bears and one lion. Now, the company is closing down as required to rectify the business. When feeding large beasts or cleaning the enclosures, 2-3 people are required to be together to ensure absolute safety.
Promotional draft of bear and tiger in Peacock Valley Scenic Area Scenic Area Promotional Materials Picture
"First of all, to ensure the public interests and the safety of people's lives"
Xichuan official reported on May 25 that the preliminary investigation showed that the two tigers in the accident were owned by a circus in Suzhou, Anhui Province. They were rented by Peacock Valley, and held a business license and a domestication and breeding license. At present, aftermath handling and accident investigation are being carried out in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and procedures.
That night, Xichuan official reported the details of the handling in response to the issues that netizens were concerned about.
reported that after the accident, the two tigers that were out of the cage were controlled in Peacock Valley. Xichuan County Public Security Bureau and County Forestry Bureau urgently requested anesthesia gun support. At the same time, the arresting personnel came up with various ways to trap tigers.
Nanyang Forestry Bureau contacted relevant personnel from Nanyang Park to rush to the scene with blow tube anesthesia guns, but after investigation, it was impossible to get close to the tiger at all. The arresting personnel tried to feed the roosters with anesthetics as bait, but failed to capture them many times. Later, the arresting personnel invited professional animal trainers from Fangcheng County , but they only had the method of blowing anesthesia needles on their mouths, and it was only effective within 5 meters. Because they were worried about the personal safety of the animal trainers, the arresting personnel gave up this method. During the emergency transport of anesthesia guns from other places, the tiger has become very crazy and shows a clear tendency to attack people, posing a serious threat to the personal safety of the arrested people. Because the mountains behind Peacock Valley are high and dense forests, it was raining at that time and the visibility is very low. Once the tiger runs into the forest, it will greatly increase the difficulty of arrest. In addition, there are residential villages around Peacock Valley, which is only about 6 kilometers away from the county town. Once a tiger runs to a residential area or county town, the consequences are even more unimaginable. In this emergency, in order to ensure the safety of people's lives, after requesting the relevant superior departments to obtain approval, it decided to shoot and kill the tiger.
Du Junhui, a fourth-level researcher at Xichuan County Emergency Management Bureau, introduced to The Paper that after the incident, relevant departments and county leaders quickly arrived at the scene and learned that the scenic spot was not completely closed. Even if the scenic spot was closed, the tiger could easily jump out. The bureau immediately organized a village group through the town government to inform the villagers around the scenic area to alienate or close the doors and windows to hide at home. At the same time, use the drone to determine that the tiger's location is still in the scenic area and monitor the tiger's location in real time.
"The principle established at that time was to ensure the public interest and the safety of people's lives, and to control the tiger in the scenic area. The second aspect was to protect the tiger as much as possible. The third aspect was to kill it if it was shot, it must be strictly followed in accordance with the regulations and procedures." Du Junhui said that the tiger later had a tendency to attack people, and decided to kill it after requesting approval. The first place where the two tigers were shot was twenty or thirty meters away from the tiger circle, and the other tiger had been running in the scenic area, and the place where the shot was shot was four or five hundred meters away.
Du Junhui told The Paper that after the incident, the person in charge of Peacock Valley and the circus had been controlled. The county has established a joint investigation team composed of public security, forestry, tourism, trade unions, , the Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision and other departments, and is stepping up investigation and handling of the matter in accordance with the law. At the same time, relevant county departments have carried out special inspections and rectifications on artificial domestication of wild animals and safe production across the county.
