Bears are animals. Humans are considered animals too.
Could a human pretend to be a bear?
Some people appear to believe so, given the recent allegations that a zoo in China with a sun bear exhibit was having a human cosplay as a sun bear.
The zoo, of course, denied these allegations.
However, some people are still deep in the conspiracy theory that the sun bear is a human in disguise.
Here is what you need to know about the “sun bear or human” debate.
Zoo in China Is Accused of Having a Human Disguise as a Sun Bear
Recently, the internet was set abuzz by a conspiracy theory.
Was a zoo in Hangzhou having a human masquerade as a sun bear by wearing a costume?
The suspicion arose when videos showing the bear standing on its hind legs went viral.
In the video, the sun bear is standing straight near its enclosure’s edge.
While an animal standing upright may not cause much alarm (think of meerkats who stand stock straight when peering or searching for their prey), what smelled fishy was also the bottom area of the bear.
In the video, the sun bear appeared to have sagging or baggy skin around his bottom or hip area.
This led to suspicions that the sun bear was a suit which didn’t fit the wearer too well.
After all, which human hasn’t experienced the pain of an ill-fitting outfit gathering in areas it shouldn’t gather?
We have to agree that the sun bear looks and acts like a human in disguise.
Zoo Denies the Allegations
Of course, Hangzhou Zoo denied the allegations and said the bear was a real sun bear.
Sun bears are typically small and reach around 1.3 metres in height when standing on their hind legs.
This is substantially smaller than the North American grizzly bears, which may grow up to about 2.5 metres in height.
The saga became so well-known that even zoo experts from other zoos weighed in on whether the bear was real.
BBC reported that an expert from Chester Zoo, Dr Ashleigh Marshall, said the bear in the video was “definitely a real bear”.
This was despite many people thinking sun bears “look a lot like people in their costumes”.
However, people are still not convinced that the bear is real.
This is especially since a new clip showed the bear standing up on its hind legs and waving at visitors flocking to see the bear.
What do you think—is this a bear or a human in a suit?