Viral video: Human-like bear at Chinese zoo makes netizens go crazy
Viral video: Visitors are flocking to a zoo in eastern China's Zhejiang province after a video of one of its bears went viral, with some netizens thinking she appeared so human that she may be a staff member dressed in a bear outfit, according to local media on Tuesday.
Visitors to Hangzhou Zoo have increased by 30% to roughly 20,000 per day since a video of a Malayan Sun bear named Angela became a trending topic on Chinese social media over the weekend, according to Zhejiang province-based Chao News.
"After seeing this bear standing up on the internet, I wanted to see how it looks in real life, so I came here," a man named You said, adding that he only half-believed the video he saw online.
"After seeing the video on the Internet, we took the high-speed train from Suzhou to come over to see the bear," Qian Ming, another visitor, told a Hangzhou TV station. "We travelled here overnight last night. The bears are adorable."
The Sun bear can be seen standing on its hind legs and stretching its neck out as it faces visitors watching from outside its enclosure in the widely shared video posted last Thursday, before settling back down.
A video of a "human-like" black #bear ????at #Hangzhou Zoo went viral! But the zoo staff denies it's a person in disguise—too hot to bear! #animal pic.twitter.com/47y9VzslYQ — Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) July 31, 2023
Several people remarked Angela looked like she was wearing a bear costume when she stood up.
"If this is fake, it deserves an Oscar for special effects," one Weibo user commented.
In posts on its official WeChat account and talks with local media, the zoo has moved to dispel the rumour, stating that Angela is "definitely not a human."
"Our zoo is government-run, so that kind of situation would not happen," a zoo employee told local media.
"In the summer, the temperature is nearly 40 degrees; if you put on a fur suit, you couldn't possibly last more than a few minutes without lying down."
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- With inputs from agencies
