A zoo in China has been forced to deny that one of their animals is actually a person in a costume.
Hangzhou Zoo responded after a video of a Malaysian sun bear sparked debate online, with some claiming that it wasn't a creature at all, but a person in a realistic bear suit.
The bear, which goes by the name Angela, is seen standing on its hind legs much like a human would in the clip before a gathered crowd of guests.
Many people won’t be familiar with the particular breed of bear. Sun bears are the smallest in the world and the largest only measure 50 inches tall when standing on their hind legs.
They are unusual looking creatures, and the sight of them has made some people pretty suspicious – but the zoo has denied the rumours completely.
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“Some people think I stand like a person. It seems you don’t understand me very well,” the statement read
The zoo went on to claim that if it was someone in a costume, they’d never be able to cope with the heat – which reaches more than 100 degrees fahrenheit in the summer.
“If a person did wear a bear costume, they would be lying down within minutes due to the heat,” they said.
China also recently recorded its highest temperature ever after country reached a blistering 52.2C in Sanbao, Xinjiang.
The spokesperson for the zoo also stated that members of the press were being invited to view the bears for themselves this week.
The zoo has denied it is a person in a costume – but we do know for sure that one man in an animal costume has been making headlines earlier this year.
A man who spent $22,000 transforming himself into a collie has hit back at online trolls who have called his desire to be a dog a “fetish”.
The Japanese man named Toco has had a lifelong dream to become a collie and has dropped several thousand dollars in order to do so.
But, since taking his first public “walk” in his newly transformed state, haters online have told him he needs “therapy”.
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