Siberian tigers 'starved to death' in Chinese zoo

Eleven Siberian tigers have died in a Chinese zoo where they were allegedly starved and kept in small cages.

Animal welfare campaigners claimed the tigers were fed on chicken bones, although a manager at Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo today said diseases killed the animals during the harsh winter in China's north-east.

Siberian tigers are one of the world's rarest species, with an estimated 300 left in the wild, 50 in China. About 5,000 are held captive on farms and wildlife parks across the country.

The zoo has been struggling financially and has found it hard to feed its big cats, even withholding pay from staff, said a zoo worker. It still has 30 tigers.

"One tiger eats 10 kilograms of beef per day," said the zoo employee. The food bill for the tigers runs to about 9,000 yuan (£870) a day.

At the end of last year, two tigers there were shot and killed by police after they mauled a zookeeper.