A unique and widely circulated broadcast from the Tianjin Zoo, with a strong local flavor, has caught the attention of social media users in China recently. The broadcast aims to discourage visitors from feeding the animals by comparing the welfare of the animals to the living standards of the general public, earning descriptions from netizens as a “heart-wrenching” and humorous “stand-up comedy”.
The content of the broadcast goes like this: “Dear visitors, please do not feed the animals. These animals are like our ’employed staff’ in the zoo. Since they arrived at the zoo, they have been considered employed. They receive salaries, insurance, regular check-ups by specialized doctors, have scheduled and balanced meals to ensure their health. They don’t eat pre-packaged meals; they might eat more fruits daily than you do.”
“The durians you hesitate to buy, they eat basket after basket; the watermelon you nibble on piece by piece, they devour whole carts; the salmon you savor slice by slice, they flaunt eating one fish after another. Why would you feed them? It will only harm them. If you have spare money, why not treat yourself better!”
This broadcast is aired in Tianjin dialect, and related videos have quickly become popular on the internet, with many netizens commenting on how heart-wrenching it is. Some netizens even mentioned that after listening to the Tianjin Zoo broadcast, their takeout meals didn’t taste as good anymore.
The broadcast mentions pre-packaged meals, which are very common in China today and a common food item in households. However, during the processing of these meals, there is a significant loss of nutrients. Additionally, their high salt, oil, and calorie content is not beneficial for health, and concerns arise over the preservatives and shelf life.
In 2023, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China explicitly mentioned in the No. 1 document the goal of “cultivating and developing the pre-packaged food industry” and vigorously promoting the development of pre-packaged meals.