Siberian tiger cubs playing at the Siberian tiger park of the China Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Center in Hailin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, July 12, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)

A zoo in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province is providing special entertainment for visitors who can stand on a high platform holding long poles in their hands, hanging fishing lines with meat to lure tigers under the platform and let them jump to bite the meat, an online video showed. This apparently dangerous activity sparked heated online discussion, especially during the novel coronavirus outbreak as a tiger in the Bronx Zoo in the US has been infected with the virus. 

The widely shared online video showed a group of visitors including adults and children holding long poles with "bait" - usually meat - and trying to lure some adult tigers under the platform where the visitors stood. Some did not intend to let the tigers bite the food and wanted to challenge their endurance, according to media reports. 

This entertainment has existed for years, and it costs 20-50 yuan ($2.8 to $7) each time, the reports said. An employee from the zoo was also quoted as saying in the reports that some employees provide guidance to visitors and said the tigers can not jump high enough to reach them. 

Some netizens left comments such as "What if people fall, or tigers bite them?" Another said "Isn't it playing with fire? Aren't you afraid that the tiger might bite the pole and drag kids down?"

Wang Fang, a research fellow on life sciences with Fudan University, said a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York was recently diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing up the possibility of "human-to-cat transmission." There are risks of transmission in their droplets, feces, and urine and close contact and mass gatherings are unwise amid the ongoing prevention and control work against COVID-19 in China. 

The zoo has resumed operations since March 21, but the number of visitors has not been significant. Besides the feeding entertainment, tourists can take pictures and interact with young tigers, which was previously not open to the public due to the COVID-19 outbreak.