The most shocking news so far in the Year of the Tiger was the death of 11 tigers at a zoo in Shenyang. These big cats died of starvation in the past three months.

While furious Web users and media outlets lambasted neglectful zoo managers, the local government should take equal, or even greater, blame.

News reports cited government sources as saying that the privately-owned zoo intentionally starved these tigers, the same trick they have used since 2006 to coerce the local government into subsidizing the zoo. The government succumbed several times. Sometimes the subsidy totaled more than 1 million yuan.

It is understandable that, the first time zoo managers claimed they could not make ends meet, the government gave them money. But it is strange that the government does not think of rooting out the problem after they were asked again and again for more money.

The questions are: Where has all this money gone? And are there any government officials who worked with zoo managers to snatch food from the jaws of the tiger?