A restaurant waitress has been caught on video snatching a holy turtle from a pond in a sacred temple.

Many social media users criticised the woman who is with a female pal for taking the animal from a pond at the Buddhist temple in Foshan, in southeast China’s Guangdong, where it had been previously released by devotees in hopes of giving it a better life.

An unnamed tourist filmed one of them hanging from one side of the stone balcony around the pond and trying to reach the water below while the other held onto her, making sure she did not fall in.

Meanwhile, the one hanging over the pond uses an open umbrella and tries to get the turtle inside with online commentators asking if it was going to end up as a soup.

But whatever she had in mind once she had it, catching it seemingly proved harder than it looked as the creature keeps slipping away, and she then has to use her foot to get it into the umbrella.

The camera then turns to show a giant Buddhist statue just dozens of feet away from the spot they are trying to fish the turtle out from.

The woman, reportedly a waitress at a nearby restaurant, eventually managed to catch the turtle and later took it away in her arms.

She and her helper drew widespread criticism on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, with netizens claiming it is bad luck to take an animal from a sacred place.

One user titled ‘Enthusiastic volunteers’ commented: “Buddhist holy land, please do not disturb living creatures. Only by releasing them can we live and work in peace and contentment.”

Another user titled ‘Sammani Trading’ wrote: “Such a person is so shameful!”

And user ‘WHZ’ said: “Those released by others cannot be taken home.”

Releasing animals, also known as “fangsheng” in Chinese, is a common practice in Buddhist temples in China and other parts of Asia.

It is based on the Buddhist principle of compassion and the belief in accumulating good karma by saving and preserving lives. Devotees release animals such as turtles, fish, and birds into natural habitats, like ponds or rivers, with the intention of giving them a chance to live freely and avoid harm.

However, the practice has raised concerns about its impact on local ecosystems, as releasing animals into unsuitable environments can disrupt the balance of local wildlife and bring unwanted harm.

Afterwards, temple staff stated that the pond was meant only for fish, but well-intentioned devotees released turtles without considering that there was no platform for the turtles to rest.

Whenever the staff noticed turtles in the pond, they would fish them out and release them in other, more suitable locations.