Netizens slam zoo visitors throwing rocks at kangaroos

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‍Netizens have slammed tourists throwing stones at kangaroos at a Chinese zoo, which has lead to one marsupial dying and another injured.

The visitors acted aggressively in order to make the kangaroos hop in the enclosure at Fuzhou Zoo in southeast China's Fujian Province, a staff surnamed Chen told Fujian-based newspaper Strait Metropolis Daily.

Chen said that a 12-year-old female kangaroo had died and a five-year-old male kangaroo obtained minor injured.

The 12-year-old female kangaroo died in March. /Strait Metropolis Daily Photo

The zoo’s CCTV footage shows that the female kangaroo was hit by several stones in March, which hurt her left foot severely.

Unfortunately, the female kangaroo died the next day because of excessive bleeding in kidneys, which staff believed was caused by the stones. Chen said that they found a fist-sized blood clot near the animal’s kidney after dissecting.

A few days later after the female kangaroo died, zoo staff found tourists throwing bricks into the kangaroo enclosure again, resulting in a male kangaroo getting minor wounds.

There are only three kangaroos left at the zoo’s enclosure.

A sign reminding visitors not feed and tease animals at Fuzhou Zoo. /Strait Metropolis Daily Photo

Similar to other establishments around the world, Fuzhou Zoo set up wooden fence at the kangaroo enclosure and a sign reminding tourists to not feed and tease animals.

A keeper surnamed Zhang told Strait Metropolis Daily that they keep removing rocks near the kangaroo enclosure to protect the animals, but “some adults even find rocks from somewhere else and threw it.”

Though the zoo installed surveillance system, the cameras were installed to monitor animals instead of tourists. Following the kangaroo’s tragedy, Fuzhou Zoo decided to build a complete surveillance system in a bid to stop improper manners against the animals.

Tourists at Fuzhou Zoo's kangaroo enclosure. /Strait Metropolis Daily Photo

The kangaroo’s death triggered outrage online as netizens on China’s Twitter-like Weibo condemned the behavior.

“How about creating a blacklist to forbid them [people who behaved inappropriately] entering zoos and aquariums,” a Weibo user goes by the name @hengwochaozhengdiande said.

“You can hate animals, but don’t hurt them,” @jieyougushidian advocated.