An online footage showing a staff member of a zoo in southwest China’s Guizhou dragging a tiger’s tail has prompted the zoo to launch an investigation on his potential abusive conduct.

Video screenshot shows a man rides on a tiger

The footage, streamed and posted by an animal trainer of the Guiyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo, has gone viral since February 15, 2017. It shows the trainer forcibly dragged the tiger’s tail while the cat tried to get away. The footage also showed that the trainer rode on the tiger’s back and pulled its ears.

Video screenshot shows tiger's tail in a man's hand

Video screenshot shows tiger's neck cuffed with iron wire

Video screenshot shows tiger injured

The video has infuriated many netizens; many of whom complained of the trainer’s abusive behavior. This scandalous live streaming was spotted by a netizen first, who later found more videos of tigers being teased uploaded by this trainer since December 2016. The trainer later told reporters in an interview that the park did not oppose such conduct and claimed that he would continue shooting similar videos every day. In response to the video, the zoo’s official has launched an investigation to examine whether the trainer’s conduct was considered as abusive.