The sun bears have continued their ‘human-like’ behaviour by waving at visitors this week (Picture: Twitter)
A Chinese zoo just can’t bear the rumours anymore.
Hangzhou Zoo, in the province of Zhejiang, has already had to issue a bizarre statement this week insisting its bears are not humans in costume.
But instead of stopping the spread of the gossip, the whispers have restarted after the bears appeared to continue their ‘human-like’ behaviour.
A new video shows one of the zoo’s sun bears, which are native to Malaysia, waving at visitors – in a way which almost appears to be mocking the earlier denial.
Rumours started swirling over the weekend when a video of the bear standing on its hind legs with baggy skin was posted online, with people suggesting it wasn’t the real thing.
The zoo posted on social media on Monday, writing from the bear’s point of view: ‘Some people think I stand like a person. It seems you don’t understand me very well.’
A staff member told Metro.co.uk it was planning to arrange for reporters to visit the bears.
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They almost seemed to be mocking the earlier denials the bears were humans in costume (Picture: Twitter)
The initial video clip caused rumours the bears were people in costume, due to the odd folds on this one’s back (Picture: Shanghai Daily)
Ashleigh Marshall from Chester Zoo told the BBC the animal ‘is definitely a real bear,’ although she agreed they do ‘look a lot like people in their costumes’.
She added the folds on the bear’s back, which many people claimed looked like a costume, were to help protect the bear from predators. The loose skin allows the bear to turn around and fight back if it is attacked.
It was reported the zoo has seen a 30% increase in visitor numbers following the odd saga.
Other zoos across the world have also spoken out in solidarity with Hangzhou Zoo.
Edinburgh Zoo tweeted a picture of its bear standing up, with the caption: ‘We can confirm that Rotana IS a sun bear…’
Sun bears are the size of large dogs, standing at most 1.3m (50 inches) tall on their hind legs, compared with up to 2.8m (9ft) for grizzlies.
Other Chinese zoos have been accused of trying to pass off dogs dyed to look like wolves or African cats, and donkeys painted to look like zebras.
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We just can’t bear the rumours anymore.
