Proponents of “animal rights” in mainland China seem to be more worried about whether lion cubs will be mauled by little kids than whether the little kids will be mauled by the lion cubs.
The story from last November is about a morning-call service provided by hotels like Happy Countryside Resort, located in Jiangsu province. Happy Countryside helps young ones to more readily wake up in the morning by presenting them with a lion cub to keep them company. Not even the sleepiest tyke is going to request ten more minutes of shut-eye at that point (South China Morning Post, November 16, 2025).
An editorial on the Beijing Youth Daily on November 11 described the service as being “off track”.
“A close interaction with the lion cub might provide an unforgettable memory for a child, but we would like to ask: is staying in the room for a short while regarded as animal performance? Can the lion’s safety be absolutely guaranteed? Does this service breach the animal’s rights?” the article read.
A similar controversy unfolded at a hotel in Chongqing, southwestern China, in June, which offered a red panda wake-up service.
A paper called The Paper is also upset: “The wake-up services involving red pandas and lion cubs are essentially using animals to make business profits. They are not legitimate in terms of law and ethics.” Happy kids and income for the hotel. Oh no.
The baby animals themselves don’t look too troubled about the risk to their safety or dignity.
Some people are more worried about the people. Although the lion cubs “look cute, I would still be frightened. After all, they are wild animals.”
Others take the service in stride. “This is very good. It will make sure my son will not linger in bed or hesitate to wake up.”
The lion cub is attended by a keeper during the visit. The danger to both lions and humans is probably low, but we may be right to suspect that it is slightly greater for the human cubs. If only all of the problems in the People’s Republic of China were of this order.
