A Chinese food vlogger found herself at the center of a social media storm after she posted a controversial video of herself killing, deboning, and cooking a 90 kg alligator.

Nowadays people do all sorts of crazy, controversial things on camera for attention, from eating tapeworm-infested fish to crashing small airplanes, but most of them draw the line at gratuitous animal cruelty. One Chinese influencer recently learned the hard way that people don’t like it when you kill, dismember, and cook a defenseless wild animal for their viewing pleasure, and that the stunt may now get her in trouble with the law. Chu Niang Xiao He, a female food vlogger with over 3.5 million followers on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), recently posted a short clip demonstrating how to kill and prepare an alligator in the comfort of your own home. It was meant to shock and draw attention, but it also attracted a wave of negative reactions and accusations of animal cruelty.

The shocking video first shows Chu Niang Xiao He washing the 90kg reptile, which has its snout tied up for her protection, in the shower, using a large brush, but it quickly turns gruesome, as she proceeds to kill the animal, before skinning, gutting and deboning it. She subsequently cooks the meat in various ways.

Xiao He’s video sparked outrage on Chinese social media, with many Douyin users asking for her permanent ban from the platform, because of obvious animal cruelty. The content creator attempted to defend herself, but the way she went about doing it only angered people even more. Chu Niang Xiao He explained that the alligator in the video was artificially bred to be made into leather products, so it was going to be sacrificed anyway…

“These artificially bred alligators are raised especially for the leather and handbag companies. This is their mission. Would you say no to a Hermes alligator bag? We should be more rational,” the food vlogger said.

According to China’s Wildlife Protection Law, cooking alligator meat is illegal without applying for permits from authorities, so Chu Niang Xiao He viral stunt could have legal ramifications as well. Chinese alligators are protected under a strict Class I in China, being one of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s critically endangered species.

Chu Niang Xiao He isn’t the only vlogger to come under fire for animal cruelty. A few years back, a popular video content creator from South Korea sparked outrage by eating live octopus and squid live on stream.