Tourists in southwestern China apparently broke the wings of several black-headed gulls just to take pictures with them, and police reportedly had to get involved Wednesday.
Four tourists in Yunnan grabbed the birds and intentionally maimed them to prevent them from flying away, reports the People’s Daily.
Cruel: Tourists in southwest China break gulls’ wings just to take pictures with them https://t.co/YkSP2zrXxD pic.twitter.com/cQ3kynnTNi
— People’s Daily,China (@PDChina) January 10, 2017
Thousands of migratory gulls from Siberia spend the winter at Haigeng Dam in Kunming, Yunnan, every year.
In one of the most serious recent incidents, one tourist came close to ripping a bird’s wing in half, causing it to bleed severely.
When the 50-year-old tourist grabbed hold of the gull, a nearby security guard told him to release it immediately. The man angrily threw the bird into the ground by its wing, ripping it open.
Unable to take to flight, the bird just laid on the ground. The other tourists nearby were shocked.
“Although everyone was concerned about the animal, no one was willing to step forward and intervene for fear of getting in trouble,” said one of the bystanders.
“I had no idea we couldn’t grab the birds. In fact, I thought we could take them home with us,” another tourist busted for abusing the animals said.
The four tourists were reportedly fined heavily for their destructive actions at the dam.
China does not currently have laws preventing animal abuse; however, there is a burgeoning animal rights movement in China. The latest incident stirred a lot of outrage online.
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