There are many unusual and fascinating species that you can observe at the zoo.
However, for a very peculiar reason—people believe the sun bears in a Chinese zoo are simply humans dressed as bears—they are grabbing the attention of the entire world.
A black sun bear from the Hangzhou Zoo in Eastern China was featured in a viral film that purportedly originated on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. This video has sparked the curiosity of viewers who are interested in conspiracies.
Many believed it wasn’t a genuine bear, but rather a person dressed as a bear because of the bear’s unique stance and appearance as she stands on her hind legs:
The bear in the video does have an odd appearance; its straight back and folds of loose fur on its backside do make it eerily like a human wearing a costume.
Could it be that a zoo replaced one of its animals with a human imposter in a world where individuals pay thousands to change themselves into border collies?
The zoo, which was forced to address the strange rumors, says the answer is no. According to them, Angela the sun bear is just another sun bear.
A video of a “human-like” black #bear 🐻at #Hangzhou Zoo went viral! But the zoo staff denies it’s a person in disguise—too hot to bear! #animal pic.twitter.com/47y9VzslYQ
— Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) July 31, 2023
“I got a call after work yesterday from the head of the zoo asking if I was being lazy and skipped work today and found a human to take my place,” the zoo wrote in a statement from Angela’s perspective.
“Let me reiterate again to everyone that I am a sun bear – not a black bear, not a dog – a sun bear!”
The public’s lack of knowledge of the sun bear, the tiniest of all bear species, according to the zoo, is another reason for their disbelief.
“When it comes to bears, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge figure and amazing power,” the zoo wrote. “But not all bears are behemoths and danger personified. We Malayan bears are petite, the smallest bear in the world.”
A fragile species that is being threatened by unlawful hunting and deforestation is the Malayan sun bear. Over the previous three decades, their population has decreased by 35%.
“Not enough people know about sun bears – they are a very forgotten species,” wildlife biologist Wong Siew Te, founder of Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center (BSBCC), told CNN.
“Most bear species can stand on their hind legs but sun bears stand up high to reach higher ground to investigate their surroundings so there is a purpose to why they do that. Female sun bears even hold their cubs with both hands and walk on their feet, very human like, so I guess that’s why people get mistaken.”
He added that although sun bears are typically “fat and round,” when food is in short supply, their skin might loosen.
If you’re still not convinced that it’s a real sun bear and not a person in a suit, a zoo representative dispelled the claims by pointing out that a person could not survive the summer heat while donning a huge fur suit.
An extremely strange viral tale! The sun bear is a vulnerable species that deserves attention even if this bear may have puzzled people all around the world.
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