Three-year-old girl Xiaoyan walks on a thin 130-meter-long wire, 8 metres above six hungry Siberian tigers at Changzhou Yancheng Zoo on Tuesday (March 30) in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, China.

The stunt has aroused criticism from the public. On the first step, Xiaoyan, of Jiangxi Elite Children Arts Troupe, was nearly blown off the wire by the strong gust, arousing terrified screams from the audience.

Also she held no balancing pole, but just used her extended arms to keep balance. It took Xiaoyan more than 10 minutes to walk 50 meters, and she was then picked up by a man with a bicycle in the air.

Horrified visitors criticised the zoo for putting on the stunt which they said amounted to child abuse.