During China’s National Day Golden Week, major tourist attractions have been overflowing with crowds—even the animals at zoos are feeling “overwhelmed.” Recently, in Nantong Forest Wildlife Park, Jiangsu, several alpacas became excessively fed by visitors, resulting in exaggerated conditions like 'overfed collapse' and 'eyes rolling back.' Related photos have gone viral online, sparking heated discussions among netizens.
According to Chinese media reports, footage circulating online shows two alpacas lying limp on the ground, staring blankly, their eyes even rolled back, motionless, surrounded by a large amount of carrot, cabbage, and other food scraps. Onlookers at the scene were very concerned, speculating, “Did it get heatstroke?”, “Could it be sick or something has gone wrong?” Some even uploaded the scene to the internet, saying, “It’s really uncomfortable to look at them; they really can’t eat anymore.”
As discussion about the topic grew, more visitors shared their experiences at the site. Some netizens posted photos and said they “brought 5 jin (about 2.5kg) of carrots and threw 4 jin,” and even complained, “They’re all full, and there are still people sticking carrots in their noses.” Many netizens also expressed concern, questioning, “Feeding them like this might kill the animals from overeating.” Others pointed out, “You’re allowed to bring your own feed into the zoo, so there’s no real control—they’re just thinking about making money selling animal food.”
As for concerns about the alpacas “eating themselves to death,” staff responded, “They won’t die from overeating—there are keepers observing the animals nearby. Once they’re full, they won’t open their mouths—their mouths stay tightly shut and they won’t eat anymore.” Staff also revealed that these two alpacas were probably greedier, so they ended up overfed, but have since digested the food and returned to normal. Meanwhile, the park has also reminded visitors that if you enter in the afternoon, animals may already be full from the morning and show little interest in food. Currently, park staff are strengthening patrols and calling on the public to “feed animals rationally.”
The incident has drawn lively commentary from netizens, with many joking that these two alpacas are “holiday overworked animal representatives,” leaving messages like, “Even alpacas have reached this state—the visitors are really too enthusiastic,” “Ate so much that they just crashed on the spot, I need to save this meme face,” and “Even the animals are exhausted over the holidays.”