Recently, social media erupted in debate when a video of a sun bear at a Chinese zoo went viral.
In the video, the sun bear can be seen standing on its hind legs like a human, with the folds on its backside giving the impression that it may really be an employee in a costume. Many social media users were convinced that the creature was a human in a costume.
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A zoo in eastern China is denying suggestions some of its bears might be humans in costumes https://t.co/A4zl2wciRs pic.twitter.com/xGnsPY1OEq
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 1, 2023
"He clocking out as soon as they leave," one user quipped.
However, ABC News reported that the zoo pleaded innocence, explaining, “Because of the way they stand, some people online question whether they are ‘humans in disguise,'” the newspaper Hangzhou Daily said.
The Washington Examiner spoke with Dr. Bosco Chan, conservation director of WWF-Hong Kong, to figure out whether or not the zoo's bears are real or fake. Surprising to some, he concluded that the bear shown in the video is, in fact, a genuine sun bear.
"From the gesture and appearance we observed from the online video, the animal is a genuine sun bear (Helarctos malayanus)," he said. "It is actually not uncommon to see bears standing on their hind limbs. This is their natural behavior even in the wild."
He explained the folding skin on its backside as likely being the result of age rather than a too-big costume.
"The saggy skin — it's most likely an old animal losing its muscle; thus, the skin is loose," Chan said.
The animal is unique-looking naturally; it is closely related to but looks fairly different from most bears. They tend to be the size of a large dog, around half the height of a grizzly bear.
The sun bear has come under threat recently, largely due to deforestation in its homeland of Southeast Asia.
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"The sun bear is categorized as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, as this species lives in the tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia, where forest destruction is rampant, particularly by industrial agriculture such as oil palm and rubber plantations," Chan said.
"It is critical we step up the protection of tropical rainforests for the sun bear and stop the illegal trade in bear parts," he added. "For some countries like China and Vietnam, the sun bear is extremely rare and close to extinction, so their forest habitat must be strictly protected."