China's Cruelty Olympics

Cruel olympics: Animal rights campaigners say the Chinese have an appalling record for animal rights protection.

A bear struggles to retain its balance while gripping the two metal hoops, which look more like shackles than acrobatics equipment, as a wildlife park worker looks on and laughs.

This is just the latest shocking picture to emerge from the Animal Olympic Games which is being held in China, a country with a shameful animal rights record.

Chimpanzees are forced to play basketball and apparently lift huge weights, while a docile brown bear is dressed in a tutu while navigating a makeshift obstacle course in one of the strangest events ever to be staged.

The photographs are published for the first time today following outrage at earlier images which showed kangaroos being forced to take part in boxing matches with their supposed keepers and a monkey cycling while tied by the collar to the children's bike.

Other events at the 'games' include a sea lion high jump and a tug of war between an elephant and members of the audience, with more than 300 animals taking part.

The forth of the biannual events at the Shanghai Wildlife Park has attracted thousands of visitors, including rapturous school children, but has provoked outrage and serious concerns among animal rights groups the world over.

And the 'cruelty Olympics' are being held just before the human Olympics take place in Beijing. The Captive Animals' Protection Society will be writing to the Chinese Ambassador in London to complain about the event.

Craig Redmond, the UK based campaigns manager, said: "The abuse of the animals is clear. The bears, for example, will be very distressed at being forced to wear muzzles, chained and made to fight.

"The macaque money is chained and the kangaroo has a harness too. The things these animals are being made to do are not natural acts, and there will no doubt be cruelty involved in making them perform these tricks."

Shirley Galligan from the Born Free foundation added: "This is degrading for the animals, insulting to our intelligence and a disaster for any possible chance of increasing respect for the wild animals we share the world with. The Shanghai Animal Olympics is about domination and manipulation."

The protests from animal rights groups has been felt by the Chinese Government, which is keen to improve its reputation among the international community in terms of both animal and human rights. This year's Olympics could therefore be the last.