Kangaroo Killed by Zoo Visitors Throwing Rocks to Make It Jump

A kangaroo has died in a Chinese zoo after people threw objects at it in an attempt to get it to hop.

Visitors to Fuzhou Zoo in Fujian Province had been trying to get a response from kangaroos by throwing bricks and concrete chunks.

A veterinary surgeon said the 12-year-old female marsupial died from a ruptured kidney after being hit. Separately, a five-year-old male suffered minor injuries from the projectiles that were intended to get the marsupials up on their hind legs when they were sleeping or resting, as they would only be normally be active from 8am to 10am and 3pm to 5pm each day.

State-run China Central Television reported that the dead female will be stuffed and displayed to stop future incidents.

The zoo will also ensure security cameras are not just pointing toward the enclosure but to the visitor areas as well.

The zoo has now reduced the number of kangaroos on display to three. It has not been reported whether anyone has been charged over the incident, which occurred on February 28, AFP reported.

Conditions at China's zoos have caused controversy recently due to their disrepair and light regulation. Footage emerged in February of live puppies being fed to pythons at Riverside Zoo in Henan Province.

Last June, tigers killed a donkey released into a zoo in Jiangsu province by investors angry over a business dispute. Also last year, a visitor to a zoo in Ningbo, near Shanghai, was mauled to death by tigers.

Sun Quanhui, chief scientist from the organization World Animal Protection, told China Daily: "People feeding animals with human food, or touching or scaring zoo animals, are often seen in China."