Recently, three leopards escaped from a safari park in Hangzhou, a city of over 10 million. The park kept the incident quiet for more than two weeks, worried about affecting business during China’s May holiday week (May 1- May 6), and thus, endangering public safety. After sightings of leopards wandering the city were reported and it became the most searched topic on Chinese social media, local authorities eventually sent out search teams. Soon, netizens and media criticized their treatment of the cats as animal cruelty. On May 10, at a press conference held by Hongzhou city government, Hangzhou Wildlife World executives admitted that three leopards escaped on April 19 when two zoo staff failed to follow safety regulations while cleaning cages. The park’s upper management decided to not inform the public but would search for them privately. At the press conference, the deputy mayor of Hangzhou confirmed the incident and …