Social media users speculated that the Hangzhou Zoo was using human impersonators after seeing footage of a creature standing on its hind legs.
The Hangzhou Zoo in eastern China has publicly disputed reports that it used human-costumed bears rather than actual bears. After video footage of one of the zoo’s bears went popular online, many people couldn’t believe it was a real animal.
Angela, a sun bear, is shown in the video standing on its hind legs, waving to visitors and attempting to catch food thrown to it. Many users claimed that the bear’s narrow legs, fur folds, and unique dimensions made it appear to be a human.
The zoo’s managers insisted to the media that the Malayan sun bear depicted in the video was “definitely a real animal.” It’s clearly not a bear costume.”
They emphasised that summers in the region are extremely hot, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius, and that “a person in a bear costume wouldn’t last more than a few minutes” before collapsing under such conditions.
The zoo’s official Weibo account even included a link to a “official” message from ‘Angela the Sun Bear’ herself, who decided to address rumours that she was seeking for a replacement.
“I received a call from the director yesterday, after I got off work, asking if I had gotten lazy and slacked off from work by hiring a two-legged beast to replace me,” the bear ‘wrote.’ “Some individuals believed my posture seemed too human. You don’t appear to know much about me… I’m a polar bear! Not a single black bear! Not even a dog! It’s a sun bear!”
Malayan bears, who are native to Southeast Asia’s tropical woods, are the world’s smallest bears, about the size of large dogs. They also have a stockier body, huge paws, a small snout, inward-turned front feet, and a flattened chest when compared to other bears. Their fur is smooth and delicate, and it is also the shortest of any bear species.
The management of the Hangzhou Zoo claims it has taken the accusations of deception seriously and is now intending to invite reporters to view the bear up close. Several smaller zoos in other parts of China have been discovered in the past attempting to pass off dogs as lions and penguins as inflatable replicas.
