Customers cradled the lion cubs as if they were babies in pictures. Photo: Xiaohongshu/Wanhui, Xiaohongshu/Daling
A restaurant in Taiyuan, China, has received backlash for offering afternoon tea which allows guests to hold and cuddle lion cubs. People posted pictures and videos showing customers posing with lion cubs as if they were stuffed animals. While a small portion of people said it was "cute", the overwhelming majority of public opinion (1.8 million plays of the video, approximately 29 thousand digital media comments) were condemning it as flat-out animal exploitation and with no regard for the animals’ welfare or living conditions.
The restaurant said the animals are kept safe and under the care of trained staff and compared the experience to visiting a zoo (if anyone has been able to feel comfortable with the conditions of zoos lately). Local authorities were not convinced, but the establishment has a license to keep African lions, and guests can legally touch them, so direct interaction has been investigated.
Sadly, this isn't isolated, there have been similar examples across Asia in the past 5 years, lion cafés in Thailand to hotels that allowed guests to wake up next to red pandas, as just a few examples. Aside from the obvious ethical implications of this kind of exploitative animal interaction, experts are considering the health impacts of allowing untrained people to get up close and personal with wild animals. Moreover, what we term as a unique experience is just a level of exploitation that is unacceptable.
Reference 16/07/2025
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/16/travel/lion-cub-afternoon-tea-china-intl-scli
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