A restaurant in northern China has sparked outrage after offering customers the chance to cuddle lion cubs while enjoying afternoon tea. Animal welfare groups and social media users are slamming the experience as exploitative and dangerous.The Wanhui restaurant is situated in Taiyuan City in Shanxi province. It allows guests to handle the young lions as part of a four-course tea set, priced at 1,078 yuan ($150). Since opening in June, the venue has been selling around 20 tickets daily for the experience, which also features other animals such as llamas, deer, and turtles. Videos and photos of customers cradling the lion cubs have gone viral on Chinese social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo.Animal rights advocates have condemned the practice, warning of both ethical and safety concerns. “Tearing lion cubs from their mothers so diners can handle them over afternoon tea is exploitation, not entertainment. These animals are living, feeling beings, not toys,” Jason Baker, Senior vice president at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), told news agency Reuters.Baker also criticised the trend of using animals for viral content, adding, “The animals were treated like nothing more than social media props.”Peter Li, a policy expert on China for Humane World for Animals, also raised concerns about the risks involved. “Exploiting wild animals for selfies and marketing gimmicks is not only appallingly bad animal welfare, it’s also potentially risky for customers,” he was quoted as saying to Reuters. “Even a young lion is capable of lashing out and injuring a human. So, treating wild animals like props is both morally unacceptable and dangerously irresponsible.”Despite the backlash, the restaurant has defended itself, claiming the cubs are in good health and under professional care. “They were taken care of very well, with specialised carers to tend to them,” a representative told Reuters.This incident follows another controversial hospitality service in China last month, when authorities launched an investigation into a hotel in Chongqing for its so-called “wake-up service” using red pandas. The animals were allowed to climb onto guests’ beds to rouse them in the mornings, drawing similar criticism from animal rights groups.
