'100% Sure': Biologist Gives Verdict on Viral Bear Video From Chinese Zoo
Video footage of a sun bear waving to visitors at a Chinese zoo went viral after some social media users suggested that it could have been a human wearing a bear costume. Siew Te Wong, sun bear expert and founder of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center in Malaysia, weighed in on the issue of the bear’s authenticity—and the dangers the species is facing.
#SunBear #BearInCostume #HangzhouZoo
This video put a zoo in China in a bind when Chinese social media exploded with
claims this animal was a human in a costume. The zoo decided to grin and
bear it issuing a statement in the voice of the animal saying I'm a sun bear a
message echoed by another zoo in the UK. Have you seen that video? Yes I've seen
that video and I am very very convinced 100% sure he is sun bear. Tzu-Teh Wong is a
biologist and founder of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center. This is a
male we got Joel over here. And I think we can confidently say that that's a
bear not a human in a costume. Yes that is a bear. This forest enclosure in
Malaysian Borneo shelters 44 rescued sun bears. They are the smallest bear in the
world. It looks very similar to people when they stand up. Sun bears are also an
endangered species. Their tropical forest habitat across Southeast Asia is
shrinking. What does the future look like for the sun bear as a species in the
wild right now? If the forest is not big enough, if hunting and poaching still
continue, the future is very bleak for the sun bear because they need large
forests in order to survive. Wong says there's an illegal market for sun bear
claws teeth and organs used for traditional Asian medicine. Now the
Chinese viral video is giving the world's smallest bear a moment in the
sun. In recent days attendance surged 30% at the zoo in Hangzhou. It doesn't look
human at all when you see it in person. This man says something to bear in mind
the next time you're sent a viral video. Ivan Watson CNN Hong Kong