Thousands of animals face eviction as Chengdu wildlife shelter told to close
Move is part of government drive to shut down polluting farms and facilities in suburban areas of the southwestern city
A private shelter in Chengdu that takes in wildlife including endangered species has been told to shut down by the end of the year, and the 2,000 animals housed there will have to be relocated.
But its owner Zhou Ming told Shanghai news outlet Thepaper.cn that compensation offered by the local authorities would not cover the cost of moving the facility.
The government of the southwestern city recently launched a campaign to shut down farms in suburban areas to reduce the amount of animal waste and pollution they produced.
Ming said the Chengdu Temporary Help and Care Centre for Wild Animals would need at least 6.8 million yuan (US$1.02 million) to relocate, but it had been offered four million yuan in compensation, according to the report on Tuesday.
“They don’t carry out these evictions by force these days – instead they [threaten to] cut off the water and electricity supply,” he was quoted by Thepaper.cn as saying.
Ming said he planned to try negotiating with the government for more compensation.