ALBAWABA - Zoo management in eastern China rejected allegations that some people were wearing bear costumes after pictures circulated online of bears standing on their legs, which caused many rumors and conspiracy theories on Chinese social media to rise.
Online users were wondering if the bears were real or not, after circulating pictures showing one of them standing erect on its skinny hind legs, as well as folds of loose fur on its behind, making the bear look somewhat odd and fueling speculation that a human might be pretending to be a bear. It got to the point where a formal response by the zoo has to be made.
On Monday, Hangzhou Zoo said in a statement on its social media accounts that its sun bears came from Malaysia, and while they are smaller than other bears, they are still real bears.
"Because of the way it stands, some on the Internet have wondered whether bears are people in disguise," the Hangzhou Daily reported.
(Shutterstock)
The sun bear is similar to large dogs in its size than it is to other bears, reaching a height of 1.3 meters if standing on its legs. In comparison, other bears reach a height of 2.8 meters
While the reactions to this bear might sound silly, keep in mind that other Chinese zoos have been accused of trying to depict dogs dyed to look like African wolves or cats, and of painting donkey skins with black stripes to make them look like zebras, so this isn't the first time something like this has happened, though it might be the first time theories made it seem as if it was humans pretending to be an animal.
And maybe to some point, you can't blame people for being sceptical as back in 2013, a city zoo in the central Henan province tried to pass off a Tibetan Mastiff dog as a lion. Visitors were shocked when they heard the “lion” bark, and it's to be expected that it caused them to be very angry.
