Chinese zoo previously ‘passed off Golden Retriever as a lion’ – years before claim that bears at another wildlife park are ‘men in suits’
- The resurfaced clip was filmed in Yuanjiashan Zoo in Xichang in March 2021
- READ MORE: Sun bear at Chinese zoo is NOT a ‘human in disguise’
After rumours circulated this week that a Chinese zoo had tried to pass off a ‘man in a suit’ as a sun bear because of its human-like posture, many were left red-faced when the zoo denied the accusations and it became clear that the animal in a suspicious-looking photo was likely a real sun bear.
However, the wild theory may not have been completely unfounded, as a resurfaced video of a wildlife centre in the Sichuan province suggests.
Instead of a human being passed off as a bear, a clip from the Yuanjiashan Zoo in Xichang shows a Golden Retriever dog which appears to be being passed off as a lion.
The footage, which was filmed in March 2021 by a baffled father who had taken his child to visit the African lion enclosure, shows the pooch behind a cage.
Joking that the animal looked ‘familiar’, the father, whose surname was Tang, sarcastically joked that he wasn’t convinced the creature before him was an African lion – and wondered if it ‘hadn’t grown up’ yet.
After a zoo in China was forced to deny a Malaysian sun bear was a ‘man in a suit’, a video has resurfaced of a Golden Retriever that was reportedly passed off as an African lion
The South China Morning Post reported at the time that Tang claimed he thought he’d taken his child to the wrong place when he came across the fluffy family breed of dog.
‘After walking around the cage, we realised it is where the lion should be housed,’ he said.
As the bewildered father continued filming, he spoke to a staff member at the zoo who explained the team was ‘adjusting the animals’ accommodations’ and that they hadn’t yet got around to changing the signs on the enclosures.
Unconvinced by the explanation he was given, Tang accused the zoo of trying to pass off the domestic pet as a wild cat.
The bewildered father thought he was taking his child to visit the African lion enclosure. Pictured: A lion
He said that, while he was annoyed to have paid for the ticket, that was a small issue compared to the task of explaining to his child that the Golden Retriever was not, in fact, a lion.
Other Chinese zoos have been accused of trying to pass off dogs dyed to look like wolves or African cats.
In 2019, two zoo workers at Yancheng Wild Animal World in Changzhou, China, were seen wearing gorilla costumes and jumping around.
Following complaints, the zoo reportedly stated that it was an April Fools’ prank.
This week, footage of Angela the sun bear at the Hangzhou Zoo in Hangzhou, in eastern China, went viral as she stood up to look at crowds and had a wrinkly bottom as she demonstrated a human-like posture.
The zoo vehemently denied the accusations that its sun bears, which are native to Malaysia, were humans wearing bear suits. A spokesperson said in an audio clip which circulated on WeChat that such deception would not happen at a state-run facility.
‘Some people think I stand like a person,’ read a separate social media post, written from the point of view of the bear. ‘It seems you don’t understand me very well.’
The bear is seen on video from the back, standing on two legs – like a person – and waving its arms around, trying to catch food thrown in by visitors.
It then fails to catch a snack thrown in by the crowd, and resigns itself to sitting on a rock.
Internet users questioned whether the zoo’s bears were real after photos circulated showing one standing upright on slender hind legs.
‘Because of the way they stand, some people online question whether they are “humans in disguise,”‘ the newspaper Hangzhou Daily reported.
Sun bears are the size of large dogs, standing at most 1.3 meters (4ft 3″) tall on their hind legs.
Grizzlies and other species can be as tall as 2.8 metres (9ft), according to the zoo.
They are the smallest of the bear species and are native to Southeast Asia.
Sun bears have distinct features, such as a short, sleek black coat, a pale yellowish crescent on their chests (which gives them their name), and a light-colored muzzle.
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