After the year of the tiger, the new year in the Chinese lunar calendar is that of the rabbit. A zoo in the country, which hosts the two species, wanted to present the two animals to each other in the form of an allegory. The meeting did not proceed as planned.
Who could have predicted that pitting a rabbit against a tiger would go wrong? On the occasion of the transition from the year of the tiger to the year of the rabbit in the Chinese lunar calendar, zookeepers at Linfen Zoo, China, wanted to place two real representatives of these two species side by side for a symbolic video that promised to be good-natured and was posted on zoo have’s account on the Weibo social network, relays Newsweek.
“The rabbit is fine”
A white rabbit and a baby tiger are thus shown together in the picture. But as the seconds pass, the young cat’s gaze locks onto the rodent, who doesn’t seem to sense the danger.
Until the scene goes wrong where the little tiger’s instincts take over. The animal pounces on the rabbit, opens its mouth and encircles it with its paws, while the trainers try to separate the two animals. Screams are heard before the recording is interrupted.
According to one of the people who shared the video, the rabbit is “doing fine” and was not harmed by the tiger’s claws and fangs. Information confirmed by several local sources.
The trainers then kept the animals away from each other to avoid another attack and said a few words to wish netizens a Happy New Year.