The circus at Kunming Zoo in southwestern China's Yunnan Province has closed and the stage is being dismantled, a month after China imposed a ban on all animal shows at zoos and other parks.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, which also supervises parks and zoos, issued a document last month banning animal performances and sales of wildlife products.

"These activities go against the public good," it said in a document.

The ministry said zoos and parks should provide animals with adequate food and necessary care and ban animal performances to "prevent them from being alarmed or provoked."

It gave zoos and parks till the end of January to halt their animal shows.

The ban came after years of public concern about the poor conditions in wildlife parks that have led to the deaths of some endangered animals, including Siberian tigers and even giant pandas.

The move was lauded by animal conservationists as a major step towards better animal welfare.

However, the ban is likely to hit zoo, circus and park owners hard.

"When the circus was disbanded, I had to lay off some employees," said Zhu Libo, whose circus used to be the biggest selling point of Kunming Zoo.

Without an income, Zhu said feeding and caring for his 20 black bears and 12 monkeys were real problems.

He cannot sell the animals, as there is a six-month ban on the trade and transportation of wild animals for entertainment purposes from July to December. "I will have to wait until that ban expires to see what I can do," said Zhu.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2010)