CHINA: BEIJING: CROCODILE ZOO: VISITORS CAN FEED LIVE BIRDS TO CROCS

Mandarin/Nat A crocodile zoo which preserves all the cruelty of the wild recently opened in Beijing. It is not a place for the fainthearted, the zoo offers chicks and ducks for sale so visitors to the park can toss them into the pond. But it's not all gruesome, Zoo officials say their goal is not only to amaze visitors but to advance science as well. The chick senses that it has only seconds left to live. Surrounding it in the pond are roughly 3-hundred crocodiles each with a hungry eye on its prey. This may not be the wild -- but at the Beijing crocodile zoo it comes very close. The chick can only chirp a last plea before making a dash for it -- and meeting the inevitable end. With so many of the 120-kilogram reptiles to feed, it's a spectacle repeated hundreds of times a day. But the chicks can't blame the crocodiles for their fate. Modeled on crocodile shows popular in south-east Asia, the zoo offers chicks and ducks for sale so that visitors to the park can toss them into the pond. The crocodiles are only too grateful. The sight shocks some visitors. But China has become a much rougher place since Chinese Buddhism and its pacifist philosophy were repressed under communist rule, especially during the ten-year Cultural Revolution. The zoo's director says it's all part of nature. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) "This is a kind of natural balance. Although I myself sometimes can't stand to see the little chicks being thrown into the crocodile pond -- but in order to raise this kind of endangered animal we have to do this, we have no other choice." SUPER CAPTION: Ma Yunru, General Manager of Beijing crocodile zoo The park features four different species of crocodile, including these African crocodiles which are the largest on display. Most are Yangtze river crocodiles from southern China. Opened this August after more than a year of gathering animals and other preparations, the zoo claims it has thousands of visitors everyday. Not everyone comes to see the gruesome parts, as there are other attractions on offer. Located just alongside the main highway which links Beijing with a heavily-visited portion of China's Great Wall, the zoo hopes to become a major tourist stop. Zoo officials say their goal is not only to amaze visitors but to advance science as well. While southern China has always had a large crocodile population -- rivaled only by the number in the southern United States -- crocodiles have never lived in this area. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) "Crocodiles have never been raised before in northern China. Through this experiment we've shown that not only can we raise them, but that we can raise them in very good condition. Since these crocodiles came to our zoo last year they have been very healthy, and all of them have grown bigger." SUPER CAPTION: Ma Yunru, General Manager of Beijing crocodile zoo This fattening-up has of course come at the expense of thousands of chicks and ducks. But crocodiles are not at the very top of nature's food chain, and they may soon get their due. Plans for the zoo's expansion next year include opening a special theme restaurant. The speciality of the house will be -- what else? -- crocodile meat. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ad2d4b59b53a9394688be86d4a31d737 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork