DISTRESSED_PANDAS_DN04
ANIMAL rights campaigners have released footage which they claim shows a distressed female giant panda clawing walls to find its wailing cub after they were separated at a zoo.
The clips were taken at the highly respected National Smithsonian's Zoo in Washington DC earlier this year.
Campaigners say they show Mei Xiang clawing against a wall in a desperate bid to be reunited with her cub, Bei Bei, which can be heard "crying".
Earlier video shows mother and cub contentedly playing together at the zoo, which is part of the world-famous Smithsonian Instution, which attracted more than 28 million visitors in 2015.
Critics have described the footage as "heartbreaking" and set up a petition to have the pair reunited.
The zoo insisted Bei Bei was ready to be separated from his mother and said it would have been "detrimental" to keep them together.
DISTRESSED_PANDAS_DN04
ANIMAL rights campaigners have released footage which they claim shows a distressed female giant panda clawing walls to find its wailing cub after they were separated at a zoo.
The clips were taken at the highly respected National Smithsonian's Zoo in Washington DC earlier this year.
Campaigners say they show Mei Xiang clawing against a wall in a desperate bid to be reunited with her cub, Bei Bei, which can be heard "crying".
Earlier video shows mother and cub contentedly playing together at the zoo, which is part of the world-famous Smithsonian Instution, which attracted more than 28 million visitors in 2015.
Critics have described the footage as "heartbreaking" and set up a petition to have the pair reunited.
The zoo insisted Bei Bei was ready to be separated from his mother and said it would have been "detrimental" to keep them together.