My daughter visited a zoo in China, I think it was in Shenzhen, years ago and said the conditions were horrible, as you suggest.
Your pictures are great, as always, and the narrative interesting. If the animals were rescues, then the shop is a fine place for them. They may have been. Otherwise, probably not the ideal home... 😄
Yeah I can only justify their treatment in context of where they are, unfortunately. Compared to the zoos they're living in a veritable paradise. I have refused to go to zoos ever since I first went to one here tbh, in a small city in the middle of nowhere.
It's those cities where you see the true misery of it. Big places like Shenzhen are bad enough but out there... it's just concrete holes in the ground with nothing but a single underweight polar bear and its years-long collection of urine. Mortifying, and powerless to do anything about it.
So, some chubby capybaras with friends and freedom to roam with lots of social opportunity and trained caretakers... I can deal with that.
Your pictures are great, as always
Hardly a photographer, but I do like to clean the lens, at least ^__^