Chinese father defends girl's wolf stunt

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XINJIANG, China, April 9 (UPI) -- A Chinese man accused of being a bad father for allowing his 10-year-old daughter to be put in a cage with a wolf says she was in no danger.

Criticism against Zhu Yongsheng came after his daughter Zhu Lin participated in an April 1 stunt in which she was closed into a cage with a wolf and was photographed playing with and kissing the animal, China Daily reported.

The pictures quickly surfaced on the Internet. One viewer complained that the father "should be the one in the cage" and another said the girl "will be damaged both physically and mentally for a lifetime."

In response, Zhu Yongsheng, who keeps about 50 dogs and 10 wolves at a training center in Xinjiang, said his daughter enjoyed doing the stunt.

"Some media inaccurately said ... that I cruelly locked my daughter in with fierce animals on a whim," he said. "They were wrong. Zhu Lin has dealt with wolves since she was very young. She is a capable wolf trainer. I know a lot of people have criticized me. But I love my daughter very much. I just want to make her strong."

Zhu Lin backed up her father, saying wolf training "is far more fun than school."

"They [the wolves] are my brothers," she said.