One of the common complaints of these animal doctors is about visitors to the park - the vets wish that visitors would think and treat the animals properly and with respect. Over the past few years the vets have had to treat many sick and injured animals who were only ill because of the way visitors have behaved. "Most of the emergency surgery we have had to perform on zoo animals was because they ate something dropped in their cages by visitors," an animal doctor said.

One tragic case saw one of the zoo's giraffes die after eating plastic bags. Taxidermists mounted the body of the giraffe which now stands in the zoo as a warning to visitors to dispose of their litter appropriately.

Zhang Qiong, the director of the hospital said that animal doctors have made great advances in treating and caring for animals but it was heartbreaking when they saw their animals die because of the uncivilized behavior of some visitors.

Compiled by the Global Times based on a story in the Jiefang Daily