Chinese zoo forced to deny bear is a human in costume

A bear in a Chinese zoo recently became the target of media attention, after a video of it standing up and interacting with visitors drew suspicion that it was a human.

Chinese zoo forced to deny bear is a human in costume

A zoo in China has refused to grin and bear it after video of one of its bears standing on its hind legs went viral – forcing officials to deny it was a human in a costume.

Hangzhou Zoo addressed the wild allegations in a statement pretending to be from Angela, the Malaysian sun bear seen standing up and staring at bemused-looking visitors.

“Some people think I stand like a person. It seems you don’t understand me very well,” the statement said, according to the New York Post.

A Chinese zoo denies the claim that its famous sun bear is actually a person in a costume. Picture: Twitter

Video of the bear drew attention as spectators noticed its slender legs and folds of fur that make the creature appear as if it was a person standing in a bear costume.

共匪🇨🇳動物園

動物🐻都是假的

人穿黑熊套皮毛被大陸人發現

共匪邪教鍋什麼都能造假 pic.twitter.com/mOy6J51zIp

— 少俠 (@shaoxia33139500) July 30, 2023

The local Hangzhou Daily first noted the attention, writing: “Because of the way they stand, some people online question whether they are ‘humans in disguise.’”

That forced zookeepers to note that the sun bears from Malaysia are smaller than other bears and have a different appearance — but are just as real.

Officials also said that a human inside a fuzzy costume would never survive summer temps soaring almost 40C.

“If a person did wear a bear costume, they would be lying down within minutes due to the heat,” a spokesman said.

The zoo said it was far too hot for a person to wear a bear suit. Picture: Twitter

An employee who answered the phone at the zoo declined to discuss the bears but said visits were being arranged for reporters to view the bears Monday.

Sun bears, the smallest bears in the world, are only about the size of a large dog. At their largest, they are about 50 inches tall while standing on their hind legs, compared to grizzly bears, which can be up to 9 feet tall.

Other Chinese zoos have also been accused of misleading guests about their animals — with allegations including dyeing dogs to look like wolves or African cats and painting donkeys to look like zebras.

This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission