Skinny Panda in Xi'an prompts welfare concerns

The skinny panda in Xi'an Qinling Wildlife Zoo. [File photo: Weibo]

Pictures of a skinny panda from Xi'an Qinling Wildlife Zoo have attracted public concern after they appeared on China's micro blogging site Sina Weibo, reports Beijing Youth Daily.

In the photos posted by a member of the public on Tuesday, the ribs of the panda can clearly be seen, prompting concerns that the panda wasn't being fed properly, or was being mistreated.

Staff members of the zoo told Beijing Youth Daily that pandas, as the national treasure, have special people to prepare food for them at the zoo and that some of their favorite foods such as bamboo were quarantined before being delivered. They said the reason the panda was so skinny is that it had been suffering from a dental disease called pulpitis since the beginning of the month. 

Despite the explanation, some people feel the management of the zoo is still at fault because it put sick pandas on show to the public.

A Sina Weibo social media post by Beijing Youth Daily on the subject was re-posted more than 1,000 times, with 3,200 comments as of Wednesday afternoon.

The staff members of the zoo have promised that the panda will be kept indoors while it recovers before going on show again to the public.