An Aussie zookeeper has given his tackle the viral video debate over the Chinese bear, explaining that the species has the “saggy skin” that led individuals to consider it was a human in an animal go well with to permit them to maneuver nimbly when they’re threatened.
Serena Robbie of the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra stated solar bears seen within the viral imaginative and prescient final week show naturally human traits.
Angela the solar bear amazed individuals all over the world after photos of the humanoid zoo animal first surfaced at Hanzhou Zoo in japanese China, main onlookers to surprise if the bear was actually an individual in a fancy dress.
The digicam angle confirmed a picture of fur hanging round Angela’s butt — what many believed seemed like an individual in costume.
The Canberra Zoo has two solar bears on web site – Arataki, 23, and Otay, 19 – and each have attracted a surge in guests within the wake of the circulating video.
Angela the solar bear surprised individuals all over the world after photos of the humanoid zoo animal first appeared (pictured)
The digicam angle confirmed a picture of unfastened fur hanging round Angela’s butt — making it seem like a fancy dress to many
Ms Robbie stated the bear within the Chinese imaginative and prescient, standing, begging for meals and waving like an individual, “definitely” seemed like a solar bear.
“These guys spend a lot of time standing, so they stand on their hind legs and look like people,” she informed the Canberra times.
“That’s one of the comments we get a lot from the public, that they look like people in suits. But they certainly aren’t. They are definitely sun bears,” she stated.
She defined that the floppy pores and skin is an evolutionary quirk the species acquired in an try to defend itself within the wild.
“So if something attacks them from behind, it means they can turn 180 degrees in their skin and fight back,” Ms Robbie stated.
She stated additionally they had the surplus pores and skin round their neck and throughout their physique.
Footage of the waving bear within the Chinese video additionally added to the bear’s fireplace as a human in a go well with.
But Mrs. Robbie stated that ‘waving’ is the bears’ approach of getting meals.
She stated the current improve in guests to see the bears has given the zoo a chance to advertise the plight of the “vulnerable” species within the wild.
They have been saved in captivity in Asian nations the place bile is commonly extracted from their gallbladders for revenue.
The Canberra Zoo has two solar bears on web site – Arataki, 23, and Otay, 19 – each have attracted a surge in guests within the wake of the circulating video (pictured, one of many solar bears at Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium)
“These guys spend a lot of time standing, so they’re on their back feet and look like humans,” stated Canberra zookeeper Serena Robbie (pictured)
Ms Robbie stated the zoo helps Free the Bears – a corporation that rescues bears from one of these commerce and poaching overseas.
Now tens of hundreds of thousands have seen footage of the bear clumsily making an attempt to catch meals thrown into the enclosure by guests earlier than resigning itself to perching on a rock.
The zoo rapidly dismissed claims that the animal was dressing up, insisting that such deception wouldn’t occur in a state-run zoo.
Sun bears
Sun bears are one of many world’s rarest species of bears.
They are a tropical bear and are one in all solely two bears that reside south of the equator.
They are additionally the world’s smallest bear standing about 5 ft (1.5 m) in top.
Sun bears are shy and clever and may be fierce. They will battle tigers, leopards and huge pythons when threatened.
Each solar bear has a novel U-shaped golden crest on its chest that resembles the rising or setting of the solar.
Their enormous 7.5 cm curved claws and hairless legs permit for distinctive climbing and tearing open bushes, bark and rotten logs in quest of meals.
With a size of 25 cm, their lengthy tongues are wonderful honey traps and larva traps.
Short, easy, black coat to forestall overheating in tropical climate, however thick and coarse to offer safety towards branches, twigs and rain.
Loose, wrinkly pores and skin implies that if they’re grabbed or bitten, they’ll twist their pores and skin and chunk again at their attacker.
A robust jaw for crushing and biting on branches and coconuts.
Sun bears bark, growl and roar to scare away predators and mark their territory.
Friendly intentions to mate resemble the sound of a clucking rooster.
Source: Taronga Conservation Society of Australia