Service featuring fierce Siberian tigers — a “chicken call” costs 400 yuan

By Li Xinyi, reporting

 

Yabuli was once a royal hunting ground during the Qing Dynasty, but hunting has since been banned in the area to protect wildlife. Sadly, the Siberian tiger remains one of the endangered species. To address this, Harbin is home to two Siberian Tiger Parks, the largest breeding bases for Siberian tigers in the world. Both parks are also open to visitors. Among them, the Hengdaohezi Siberian Tiger Park, the closest to Yabuli, allows visitors to drive into an unfenced open area and walk through steel tunnels where they’re separated from hundreds of Siberian tigers only by iron cages — an exhilarating close-up experience with these majestic animals.

 

The Hengdaohezi Siberian Tiger Park originally had only 8 Siberian tigers, but now the park is home to hundreds, with over a hundred available for visitor viewing. Many of the Siberian tigers in zoos across China actually come from here. Close encounters for visitors include taking a sightseeing vehicle into the open tiger area. For safety reasons, windows must remain closed during the ride. When the tigers see the vehicle enter, they seem to instinctively approach, waiting for food from visitors. The “chicken call” service inside the vehicle costs 80 yuan (approximately 400 New Taiwan dollars) per chicken. A separate jeep then throws the ordered chicken outside the vehicle. Fortunately, there’s no bloody scramble for food — usually, the tiger that grabs the “snack” first gets to enjoy it alone, while another tiger lies nearby, “envying” the scene. Most other tigers simply lie around, continuing to wait for their own chicken calls. This scene is quite unexpected for many. However, it’s advised not to stay in the tour vehicle too long, as guides mention that the tigers might try to bite the tires.

The park also features an iron-netted passage for visitors to view the Siberian tigers. Along the long corridor, visitors can see adult tigers, cubs, white tigers, and liger hybrids — ligers are the offspring of male lions and female tigers, bred through artificial mating, and are not capable of reproduction. Visitors can also buy 10-yuan meat skewers and feed them through holes in the iron cages. The tigers are used to reaching out with their front paws to grab the meat. Walking through the passage, you can often hear the powerful roars of the tigers, creating quite a thrilling atmosphere. Of course, there are also services to “call” chickens, cows, and sheep, each at different prices. Transportation to the tiger park isn’t very convenient for outsiders, but visitors can join resort-organized tours to the Siberian Tiger Park. For example, Club Med, a local resort operator, offers a four-hour tour package that includes round-trip transportation and park admission for 390 yuan per person.