Online outrage erupted in China over a video showing an incident of what seemed to be "mistreatment of pandas" by the staff of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province.

Featuring two staff who were recorded on screen to be dragging two panda cubs, throwing them around and ramming them onto the floor in one of the breeding areas, the video has since drawn huge waves of criticism from panda lovers and other netizens after it was uploaded via a live-video platform named "Pandapia".

The incident was reported to have happened on July 12, 2017.

Here's a two-minute footage taken from the full fifty-minute video which has surfaced on YouTube:

&v=ywyLvg7QvFI

After the news went viral, the Sichuan Daily News Media interviewed the accused staff members, Guo Jingpeng and Xie Huhai, on July 27, 2017.

Guo told the reporters that the pandas were in a playful mood that day, but they suddenly turned angsty, which made it difficult for him to manage them.

He also added that the pandas had bitten his hands and fingers, and in an act of self-defense, he had to push the cub away, causing the cub to roll over on all fours.

He also said that most netizens had only seen the two-minute video which was edited out of the full 50-minute video, and this could have caused misperceptions about the incident.

[related_story]

As reported by The Paper, Xie had said that, being a staff at a panda research centre, they understood the behaviour of pandas. What looked like "dragging and slamming" to the public would be perceived differently by the cubs.

According to him, such actions would be regarded as "playful actions" between the staff members and them.

Xinhua News had also reported that the centre had urged the public to show "empathy and understanding" to the staff as "panda breeders also face difficulties in their jobs, and many times their work can be dangerous".

There are approximately 2,000 giant pandas around the world today. In 2012, China loaned to Singapore two of them, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, for a period of 10 years.

The population of these pandas has increased after more panda research centres in China had focused on their breeding.

In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) changed the status of the giant pandas from "endangered" to "vulnerable" due to its increased population.

Here are totally unrelated but equally interesting articles:

One of Us: Nothing to see here, it’s just a bowling alley supervisor turned kickass club DJ

The Kiasi guide to surviving a mass attack of any kind

Top image screenshot via here