File This Under: Well Gee, It Was In China, And Therefore Only A Matter Of Time, Eh?

Tiger kills girl at Chinese zoo

A six-year-old girl has been killed by a tiger at a zoo in Kunming in south-western China's Yunnan province.

The girl was posing for photographs with the tiger when it was startled by camera flashes and pulled the girl's head into its mouth, state media said.

Staff beat the tiger until it released the girl, but she had suffered a crushed skull and died in hospital.

The zoo has stopped allowing visitors to pose with its tigers for a charge of $2 (£1), Xinhua news agency said.

The girl was identified as Rui Xin. Her mother was bitten on the arm while trying to rescue her.

A local newspaper said the zoo had been charging visitors for the opportunity to pose with the tiger since May 2005.

And THIS Under OUCH

Bears eat keeper who took their bile

A Chinese man has reportedly been killed and eaten by six bears in Shulan, Jilin province.

Han Shigen earned a living by extracting bile from the gall bladders of his captive live bears, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

He was attacked on Monday morning while cleaning the animals' cage, Xinhua said, quoting the Beijing News.

Xinhua said the animals were so enraged that two hours passed before it was deemed safe enough to remove his body.

Many parts of the bear, including the brain and spinal cord, have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine.

The most coveted part is the bile within the gall bladder, which can often be more expensive that the equivalent weight of narcotics.

Bear bile can fetch an estimated $1,000 per kilo in Asian markets.

The bile is extracted in an excruciatingly painful process which involves slicing into the animal's flesh and "milking" the substance with a tube.

The bile is then used for everything from hair shampoo to wine, as well as medicinal treatments for various intestinal and cardiac-related complaints.

And Last But Certainly NOT Least...

Cheney warns on Chinese build-up

Mr Cheney said Australia's stance on terrorism had earned respect

"US Vice-President Dick Cheney has expressed concern over China's military policies, saying they were at odds with the country's stated peaceful aims.

On a visit to Australia, he praised China's role in a nuclear deal with North Korea but criticised its military build-up and anti-satellite tests."

Psst? Dick? Corner the market on bear-bile and they'll come crawling!