Zoo In China Says Endangered Species Are Starving Amidst Lockdowns, Pleads Local Authorities For Food

No supply chain is being spared from the effects of China’s continued Covid lockdowns – and that includes food for endangered species. 

While the rest of the world worries about whether or not it’ll be able to get its Starbucks coffee the way they still like it in the morning or whether supplies of oatmilk are once again running thin, China has been experiencing shortages of its own. 

Among the more obscure examples is the case unfolding at the Guizhou Wildlife Park, where FT says there has been an “urgent plea for live chickens and fish, as well as steamed buns and frozen crabs” for use in feeding “endangered Siberian, white Bengal and South China tigers, as well as pandas, crocodiles and zebras.”

The owner of the park sent a letter to local authorities stating: “Almost 70 per cent of the animals kept in the park are protected species, but at present, the park’s feed stockpiles are far from enough.” 

The letter also asked for “stocks of sweet potato, peppers and frozen shrimp tails,” according to FT, who noted that there are still about 50 cities, with a combined total of about 290 million people, on lockdown. 

The park said it needed to keep at least 10 days of live food for some of its animals. The park’s shortages of a microcosm of similar fears about food supply and security returning throughout the country. 

Ting Lu, Nomura’s chief China economist, told FT: “Over the past week, the overall Covid situation deteriorated considerably in China. What is becoming increasingly concerning is that Covid hotspots are continuing to shift away from several remote regions and cities — with seemingly less economic significance to the country — to provinces that matter much more to China’s national economy.”