Hangzhou Zoo in Eastern China has had to deny claims that their resident sun bear isn’t just a human wearing a bear suit after videos of it standing on its hind legs caused mass speculation.
The zoo posted a statement earlier this week from the perspective of Angela, one of the Malaysian sun bears that resides at Hangzhou which read: “When it comes to bears, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge figure and amazing power … But not all bears are behemoths and danger personified. We Malayan bears are petite, the smallest bear in the world.”
The speculation about the bears started after video of one standing on its hind legs circulated on social media with people noticing that its legs and folds of fur made it look like a human wearing a strangely realistic bear costume.
A spokesperson for the zoo confirmed in an audio recording circulating WeChat that the bear is, in fact, a bear insisting that the animal is real and that sort of deception wouldn’t happen at a state run facility — which makes me wonder what insider scoop he knows about privately owned facilities.
He also noted that in the 40 degree summer heat, a human in a fur bear suit “would not last more than a few minutes before collapsing” and yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
A zoo employee said visits were being arranged for reporters on Monday to see the bears and confirm their identity as real bears, but there hasn’t been any further updates.
Sun bears are the size of a large dog, standing at less than five-foot when on their hind legs, compared to grizzlies who stand at over nine-foot tall according to the zoo and I know who I’d rather run into in a dark alley.
This speculation doesn’t come out of the blue though with other Chinese zoos accused of trying to pass off dogs dyed to look like wolves or African cats, and donkeys painted to look like zebras in previous years.
As a big fan of sun bears, and an even bigger fan of Angela’s statement, I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one to see if there’s any future updates.
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