Beijing animal parks flaunted regulations by staging performances involving animals during the eight-day Golden Week national holiday that concluded Sunday, an investigation by a Beijing-based animal welfare NGO has found.

Volunteers from Zoo Watch found three parks in the capital - the Beijing Wildlife Park in Daxing district, Beijing Badaling Safari World in Yanqing county and Beijing World Park in Fengtai district - held such shows involving bears, crocodiles, elephants and monkeys during the holidays to cash in on the influx of tourists.

Zhang Ya'nan, a volunteer at the NGO, told the Global Times Tuesday that she visited the Beijing Wildlife Park and Beijing World Park on October 2.

"Three tuskless elephants and one with its tusks filed down halfway were used to lift children with their trunks," Zhang said of the Beijing World Park.

"A man at the park responsible for taking group photos of visitors said the elephants' tusks were cut and filed to prevent inflicting any possible injuries."

She also said that during intervals between performances the elephants were kept in cramped cages without room to move.

In a separate performance involving a crocodile, a trainer lured the reptile out of the water by grabbing its tail and then pried opened its mouth to insert his head as part of the show.

"The crocodile was unable to close its mouth even after the half-hour performance finished," Zhang said.

Both the Beijing Wildlife Park and Beijing World Park confirmed to the Global Times such performances had taken place.

A male staff member from the Beijing World Park said that the venue staged six performances daily during the Golden Week holiday involving elephants and crocodiles.

A female employee from the Beijing Wildlife Park said that they held six half-hour performances daily that included bears walking on stilts and monkeys riding bicycles.

In July 2010, the State Forestry Administration issued a directive banning performances involving wild animals at zoos and parks along with prohibiting audiences from interacting with such creatures, China National Radio reported. Offenders face warnings to end performances within a certain period or else risk being closed down.

"Profiteering is the main reason parks neglect these regulations," Mang Ping, a professor from the Central Institute of Socialism and Zoo Watch founder, told the Global Times.

"Animal parks have an obligation to educate the public to love and protect animals. Such performances don't protect, but rather distort animals' nature through cruel training."