Pandas are one of the main symbols of China, they represent friendship and peace and are known for their gentle temperament – but that didn’t stop two tourists from throwing rocks at a giant panda in the Beijing Zoo. Another visitor caught the incident on film and said the pair were trying to ‘wake up’ the endangered species animal.

The panda bear, nicknamed Meng Da, already appeared to be awake and lazily going about its business, but that didn’t stop the two from displaying animal abuse. The video was posted to China’s version of Twitter, Weibo, where the stoning of an innocent zoo animal drew more than 100 million hits.

A video of two tourists throw rocks at a Giant Panda in the Beijing Zoo has gone viral

Image credits: Weibo

The video was taken at the old panda pavilion, built in 1989 to celebrate the 1990 Asian Games hosted at the Chinese capital. Taken over a length of 30 minutes, the 38-second clip shows one person hurtle stones then another.

Image credits: Weibo

Going about its business the cute panda did not seem to pay any mind to the attack. A spokesperson for the zoo told The Beijing News that the animal keepers rushed to the scene on Saturday to prevent any more tourists from throwing objects into the enclosure. Meng Da was also reported as unharmed or affected by the incident.

Image credits: Weibo

This is not the first time animal cruelty as this happens, unfortunately. July of last year, tourists of a reserve in Foping County, Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, were asked to leave and blacklisted after throwing stones at a panda, CCTV News reported. Beijing Zoo has since promised to improve panda house security and inspections.

Image credits: Weibo

Watch the full video here

Image credits: Weibo

People were horrified at the actions of the visitors

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