Eleven rare Siberian tigers die at Chinese zoo
By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing

China has several thousand tigers in its parks and zoos

Eleven rare Siberian tigers have died over the last three months at a zoo in north-eastern China.

The local authorities believe that a lack of food contributed to their deaths, according to media reports.

The news is bound to raise concerns about the treatment of captive tigers in China, which is this year celebrating the year of the tiger.

Watch this video and tell me ,aren't they beautiful?

China has only about 50 tigers left in the wild, but it has about 5,000 in captivity.

The tigers died at the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Liaoning Province. That fact was confirmed by a worker at the zoo.

But there are discrepancies about how they died.

A local wildlife protection official, Liu Xiaoqiang, is reported to have said that malnutrition was one cause.

The tigers were apparently fed cheap chicken bones.

Mr Liu also said that the tigers had been kept in very small cages, restricting their movement and lowering their resistance to disease.