Photo of the statement issued by the Shanghai Zoo

Recent reports about an incident at Shanghai Zoo, where parents feeding a 10-month-old baby with a bottle were asked to leave, have sparked widespread public concern. On Monday evening, the zoo issued a statement apologizing for the incident, pledging to learn from the experience, improve service facilities, strengthen staff training, and enhance service awareness and humanistic care.

An investigation found that on June 14, a visitor surnamed Mao and his family were feeding their baby with a bottle in the exhibition hall of the zoo's Science Education Center. The on-site staff showed poor service awareness and handled the situation improperly while attempting to dissuade Mao and his family from feeding the baby in the hall, leading to a verbal altercation. The zoo acknowledged that staff training was inadequate and that its response to Mao's complaint was ineffective, causing distress to him and his family. The zoo expressed deep regret over the incident.

Following the incident, the zoo actively communicated with Mao, offered its apologies, and listened to his feedback. Mao has since expressed his understanding. The zoo stated that it would take the lesson seriously, improve service facilities, enhance staff training, and enhance service awareness and humanistic care to provide a warmer, more considerate experience for visitors.

"We can understand that the zoo may have rules against eating and drinking in exhibition halls, but special cases should be handled with flexibility. A hungry, crying baby can't wait 15 minutes to reach a nursing room outside the main gate. The staff's approach was too rigid and lacked basic humanistic care. Hopefully, this apology will lead to improved service awareness," a Weibo netizen commented.

"There's nothing wrong with a baby crying in public, and feeding a baby should not be restricted by unreasonable regulations," said Zhuang Shilihe, a Guangzhou-based medical expert who closely follows public health issues on Weibo.

Global Times