‘A bit weird’: Chinese wildlife staff go viral for wearing panda suits smeared with bear faeces and urine to reduce human impact
- To erase human beings from the memory of the pandas, the cubs will only interact with the workers dressed as pandas and smelling like them
- The pictures of the panda carers have been viewed millions of times and attracted thousands of humorous comments
Workers at a wildlife sanctuary in China wearing panda costumes smeared with the bear’s faeces and urine have trended on mainland social media, under the hashtag “Aren’t pandas afraid?”
“Aren’t pandas afraid?” wrote influencer known as Chi Bu Pang De Xiao Wu in the post. “Although the staff are trying their best to reduce the impact of human beings on pandas, I still feel a bit weird.”
He also included a paragraph explaining the reason for wearing the suits is to reduce human interactions with the animals to zero before the bears are eventually released into the wild.
“In order to erase human beings in the memory of the pandas, these panda cubs will only interact with the keepers dressed in panda costumes. The clothes are also smeared with bear’s faeces and urine,” he wrote.
The photos have been viewed 25 million times on Weibo and attracted thousands of humorous comments.
“I don’t know if the pandas are frightened or not. But I am pretty scared,” wrote one person.
