A China zoo insists that its bears are real after people claimed one was nothing more than a person dressed in a costume in a video that went viral.
Images surfaced over the weekend from a zoo in the eastern province of Zhejiang showing a sun bear standing on its hind legs and looking very humanlike from behind, NBC News reported.
“Some people think I stand like a human, and it seems that you don’t understand me that much,” Hangzhou Zoo wrote on its official social media account from the perspective of the bear in the video, named Angela.
“Previously, some tourists thought that I was too tiny to be a bear,” the message added. “I have to emphasize again: I am a Malayan sun bear! Not a black bear! Not a dog! A sun bear!”
WATCH:
A video of a bear standing in Hangzhou, China, swept through social media with conspiracy theories it was a human in a suit. The zoo tried to clear things up by releasing a statement in the bear’s voice. “I am a Malayan sun bear!” https://t.co/pJ36hDWhhM pic.twitter.com/1pJL6zwM0S
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 1, 2023
The video blew up after the 15-second clip was posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, on July 27, NBC News noted. In the clip, the sun bear is seen standing on its hind legs for a very long time, with what many viewers thought looked similar to a human in a costume wearing baggy pants.
The bear interacts with the tourists in the footage, as it almost appeared to raise a paw and wave at one point. The bear then sits down before walking away on all four paws.
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“Wrinkly seat happens when the back rise is too long,” one person wrote on X. “Requires a tailor to shorten the back rise by pinning the pants up to the waistband, removing excess material, and then dropping the crotch seam, so as to not give the wearer a wedgie.”
wrinkly seat happens when the back rise is too long. requires a tailor to shorten the back rise by pinning the pants up to the waistband, removing excess material, and then dropping the crotch seam, so as to not give the wearer a wedgie https://t.co/I2IYquRboi pic.twitter.com/PkFYwnz2S6
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) July 31, 2023
Another added, “I can’t get over how Sun Bears legitimately look like people dressed up in bear costumes.”
I can’t get over how Sun Bears legitimately look like people dressed up in bear costumes pic.twitter.com/xTX5AJ7lA8
— Arumi Velociraptor | sudo -426 int (@Arumi_kai) August 2, 2023
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