The video, released on July 28, showed a Malayan bear, also known as a sun bear, standing on its legs in its enclosure at the Hangzhou Zoo as visitors watched. Chinese netizens questioned whether the bear was a man dressed in a suit, due to the bear’s human-like posture and folds of loose skin on its back.
The zoo has denied the allegations and responded lightly by posting a statement on the Chinese app WeChat where they role-played as the bear:
“Yesterday, after I finished work, I received a call from the director asking me if I was lazy and didn’t go to work, and that I had instead hired a two-legged animal to replace me,” it read.
The Malay bears are smaller than other bears and look different, but they are the real thing, the zoo further assures.
In the past, other zoos in China have been accused of trying to display dogs painted as wolves or donkeys disguised as zebras.