Chinese cartoon blocked

A blood-soaked cartoon that marks the Year of the Rabbit by portraying a bunny revolt against brutal tiger overlords has proven an online hit, with its thinly veiled stab at China's communist rulers.

The "South Park"-style video by animator Wang Bo, in which the persecuted rabbits overthrow the tigers, went viral on video-sharing sites in recent days thanks to its gruesome depiction of a number of recent scandals.

It was unavailable on websites on Thursday, apparently deleted by skittish government censors.

Bo's cartoon begins with baby rabbits who die horribly from drinking "Sanlu" milk. Sanlu is the now-defunct Chinese dairy giant that was at the centre of a huge scandal in 2008 over tainted milk.

The milk was blamed for killing six infants and sickening 300,000 others.