That's one way to beat the heatwave! Panda plays with giant ice block as temperatures reach 36C in Chinese zoo

When Weiwei the panda was way way too hot in his enclosure zookeepers came up with an ingenious idea to cool him down.

They made a massive 200kg ice block for the popular bear, as temperatures reached a sweltering 36C in the Hubei Province of China.

Weiwei delighted visitors over the weekend at Wuhan Zoo by rolling around with the block, sometimes stopping for a refreshing lick.

The giant panda cuddled the cube all day long, having discovered the next best thing since human-served bamboo.

There are thought to be less than 2,000 pandas left in the wild, and over 300 in zoos, predominately in China.

Weiwei too hot: Temperatures reached a sweltering 36C in the Hubei Province of China and it was all a bit much for this panda

Cool toy: Zookepers at the Wuhan City Zoo came up with something that was definitely not too hot to handle for Weiwei the giant panda

It got hot for a panda. Licking ice, cubes, for the camera: Weiwei cuddled the cube all day long as though it were his very own ice ice baby