A prized bear has been filmed strolling around a Taiwan zoo and ‘greeting’ happy visitors in a suspiciously human manner, forcing the attraction to deny the animals are ‘staff in costumes’.
Guests at Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung couldn’t believe their eyes when they were approached by the black bear named Bobby.
The curious creature was captured on camera jumping over a tree trunk and standing on its hind legs as it looked up from its enclosure at waving passers-by.
Some suggested that its stability at two feet and a similar height to that of a human indicated it was a person in costume, but the zoo dismissed the speculation, saying anyone in a furry suit would be “too hot” at the high temperatures.
It comes after similar suspicions were raised about bears in a Chinese wildlife park last year, sparking a furious online row over whether they were people in bear suits or real.
Some suggested that its bipedal stability and similar height to a human indicated it was a person in costume
The curious creature was caught on camera jumping over a tree trunk before standing on its hind legs
The latest video of a humanoid bear, filmed yesterday in Taiwan, also sparked backlash, with many joking that the zoo is “overburdening” students in terms of work experience.
According to the zoo, Bobby also sparked debate in 2016 when locals first began suggesting he was actually a human in costume.
However, the zoo clarified that Taiwanese black bears can stand upright in the wild.
At the time, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Ju also weighed in to confirm that the animals at the Shoushan Zoo are real and not students.
Reflecting on the popular debate, locals joked that Bobby looks more like a worker in a suit than a real black bear.
One said: ‘He walks so steadily on two legs, he must be a working student.’
Another added: ‘It stands like a human being. The height is about 6 feet.”
“Shoushan Zoo has such excessive, overworked students,” someone else joked.
Another commented: ‘Stop pretending. Take off the costume.”
A spokesperson for Shoushan Zoo denied that their bear was fake, saying, “If someone were to wear a bear costume, they would lie down within minutes because of the heat.”
Similar accusations were made against China’s Hangzhou Zoo last August, when a bear with bizarrely wrinkled fur and slender legs stunned people, leading to questions about whether it was a human or an animal.
Bobby, the Taiwanese black bear, is seen on all fours at Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung
The zoo’s Malayan sun bear was filmed greeting visitors while standing on its hind legs.
Officials also claimed that a human in a fur bear suit “would not last more than a few minutes before collapsing” in summer temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius.
An extraordinary video shows the creature reaching out to catch a snack thrown into its enclosure at Hangzhou Zoo, but comically failing to hold on to it.
The sun bear’s clearly resigned nature has only added fuel to the theory that it is in fact a human in disguise. Other observers have pointed out a sagging bottom, leading to theories that it is a very lifelike suit.
Sun bears are known to have human-like mannerisms and are as large as large dogs, measuring up to 1.3 meters in length on their hind legs.
Hangzhou Zoo said a person in a bear suit reportedly collapsed due to the scorching summer heat
Video showed the strange-looking bear standing on two legs, looking for food
Meanwhile, black bears can grow between 1.5 and 2.5 meters tall when standing on their hind legs.
Other Chinese zoos have also been accused of trying to pass off painted dogs as other animals, such as wolves or African cats.
In 2019, two zoo workers at Yancheng Wild Animal World in Changzhou, China, were spotted wearing gorilla costumes and jumping around.
After complaints, the zoo reportedly declared it an April Fool’s joke.
In 2018, reports emerged that a zoo in Cairo tried to trick visitors by painting a donkey black and white to make it look like a zebra.
The bizarre creature was spotted by student Mahmoud A.Sarhani who was visiting the recently opened animal shelter in the city’s International Garden park.
A number of veterinarians in the country quickly confirmed that the animal was indeed a donkey.