WORLDVIEW: The spectator sport China DOESN'T want you to see

The following was reported in the Daily Mail

The smiling children giggled as they patted the young goat on its head and tickled it behind the ears.
Some of the more boisterous ones tried to clamber onto the animal's back but were soon shaken off with a quick wiggle of its bottom.
It could have been a happy scene from a family zoo anywhere in the world but for what happened next.

A man hoisted up the goat and nonchalantly threw it over a wall into a pit full of hungry lions. The poor goat tried to run for its life, but it didn't stand a chance. The lions quickly surrounded it and started tearing at its flesh.
"Oohs" and "aahs" filled the air as the children watched the goat being ripped limb from limb. Some started to clap silently with a look of wonder in their eyes.
The scenes witnessed at Badaltearing Safari Park in China are rapidly becoming a normal day out for many Chinese families.

Here a few pictures of the event:

Children feed goats before the 'show' starts. One that has been 'bought' by a visitor is carried off

Once the goat is carried from its pen, it is swiftly thrown into the lion enclosure

Here are are a few of my comments about the story:

Why do some people find amusement in the watching of animals suffer or in the killing of an animal?

Why do some people wake up at 5:00 am, take a gun and go and kill an animal for sport?

What possible enjoyment can be gained by taking an animal's life? Yes, I know you do it for food. But I always find it ironic how people who claim they only do it for food talk about their hunting trips like someone who had a lot of fun.

The Daily Mail article went on to report:

Baying crowds now gather in zoos across the country to watch animals being torn to pieces by lions and tigers.
Just an hour's drive from the main Olympic attractions in Beijing, Badaling is in many ways a typical Chinese zoo.
Next to the main slaughter arena is a restaurant where families can dine on braised dog while watching cows and goats being disembowelled by lions.
The zoo also encourages visitors to "fish" for lions using live chickens as bait. For just £2, giggling visitors tie terrified chickens onto bamboo rods and dangle them in front of the lions, just as a cat owner might tease their pet with a toy.