What happened to the zoo coffee service and its lion encounter?

A café inside Xi'an Weiyang Lake Zoo offered a package that combined zoo admission, a cup of coffee, and a 10-minute close encounter with a lion cub just over a month old, starting at 268 yuan. After online attention and safety questions, the Xi'an Wildlife Protection Station inspected the program and halted visitor contact with the lion, and the package was taken down.

Zoo staff confirmed the program began during the Spring Festival, with keepers supervising interactions, and said the lion cubs were born to the zoo's adult lions. The café also kept parrots, snakes, lizards, and spiders for customer contact. The online lion-petting package has since been removed while the protection station's inspection continues.

Recently, a café inside Xi'an Weiyang Lake Zoo launched a special service — while sipping coffee, customers can also have a 10-minute close encounter with a lion cub just over a month old. The package starts at 268 yuan, which has drawn a lot of attention and sparked a checking-in trend among netizens, but some have also raised safety concerns. On February 10, zoo staff confirmed that the program was launched during the Spring Festival, and visitors could interact with the lion cub under the supervision of professional keepers. However, as the incident gained traction, the Xi'an Wildlife Protection Station intervened to inspect and halted the close-contact activity between visitors and the lion, and the online lion-petting package has also been taken down. This article will walk you through the whole story and the responses from all parties.

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Recently, a netizen posted on social media revealing that at a café in Xi'an, customers can not only drink coffee but also have a 10-minute close encounter with a lion cub.

According to information circulating online, the shop is located inside Xi'an Weiyang Lake Zoo. Consumers can place orders online for a ticket package that includes zoo admission, a cup of coffee, and a 10-minute interaction with the lion cub. In addition to two cubs just over a month old, the shop also keeps parrots, snakes, lizards, spiders and other animals, which customers can also interact with.

Although the lion-petting package is not cheap, starting at 268 yuan, it still attracted many netizens to visit and check in. However, some netizens, upon seeing parents bringing their children to pet the lion, questioned whether the interactive programs offered by the café were safe.

(Image screenshot from the café's account)

In response to these questions, on February 10, staff at Weiyang Lake Zoo confirmed to Modern Express reporters that the program was launched by the café inside the zoo during the Chinese New Year period, and visitors could interact up close with two lion cubs just over a month old under the supervision of professional keepers.

The staff explained that the lions in the zoo have not come into contact with other animals, so there is no possibility of them being sick. The two cubs participating in the interactions were born to the zoo's adult lions and have not yet been weaned, so neither is aggressive. Initially, because some visitors asked to hold the cubs for photos after they were born, the zoo went along with the demand and launched the corresponding service package.

As for whether it is safe for children to pet the lion, the staff said: "Children's skin is too delicate, and we're afraid they might touch the cub's claws. If a child is only 70 to 80 centimeters tall, we would not recommend holding it. For the slightly larger one, the lion kept specifically for viewing, we have more requirements."

In addition, the staff stressed that when visitors come into contact with the lion and other animals, professional keepers will be nearby to watch over them, ensuring the safety of both the animals and the people.

(Short video screenshot)

Judging from posts online about "petting lions at a café," this program likely originated from a café in Bangkok, Thailand. According to guides shared by tourists, for the price of a cup of coffee, you can get up close and interact with a lion and take eye-catching photos and videos, which is why it is very popular among tourists.

It can thus be inferred that the "lion-petting package" launched by domestic cafés may be imitating the practice of Thai cafés.

It is worth noting, however, that the zoo claimed in its interview with reporters that the program was launched during the Chinese New Year period, but judging from check-in posts published by visitors, the coffee-and-lion-petting program may have been launched around July or August last year, which differs somewhat from the staff's account.

In addition, according to photos shared by visitors, they could previously not only pet the lion cubs but also interact with animals such as Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs.

As the incident drew more attention and was reported by multiple media outlets, staff from the Xi'an Wildlife Protection Station went to the café to inspect it after learning of the news. A staff member told Dafeng News reporters that during the inspection they found no problems with the rearing of the lion cubs, and that everything was carried out in strict compliance with animal husbandry regulations.

They have already halted the online behavior of "visitors touring or coming into close contact with the lion cub," because wild animals are aggressive and close contact poses risks to visitors. At present, the zoo and the café have removed the lion-petting package from online platforms.

Image source: online screenshot

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