At a tourist attraction in China, a star goose with thousands of online admirers was killed by being kicked to death because it "scared" someone's child, according to the South China Morning Post.
The shocking case of animal cruelty has incited a surge of rage among social media users, particularly Chinese users.
The SCMP further stated that the wild goose named Da Bao was an online celebrity and a popular attraction at a tourist spot in Shijiazhuang, in Hebei province, in northern China.
Its gentle demeanour led it to gain a substantial following and more than 40,000 likes on a social media account named "Bar-headed Goose Da Bao" that regularly featured updates of its daily activities.'
However, the owner of the social media account recently announced that the gentle Da Bao had died after being kicked by a visitor who claimed the goose had frightened their child.
The owner of the account recorded a video of his exchange with the visitor in which a female tourist offered an explanation, saying: "It posed a threat to my daughter."
Online users debated whether bar-headed geese are a federally protected species and called for harsh punishment for the criminal after the authorities turned over the footage to the police.