EDINBURGH Zoo has confirmed its sun bear is real, after a zoo in China had to deny allegations it had a human actor in a suit pretending to be a bear.
Photos of the animal in Hangzhou Zoo standing like a human on its hind legs went viral, with internet users questioning whether or not it was actually real.
We can confirm that Rotana IS a sun bear... 👀💛 pic.twitter.com/luci7tIUbT
— Edinburgh Zoo (@EdinburghZoo) August 1, 2023
Clarifying, the zoo said in a social media post on Monday that sun bears from Malaysia are smaller than other bears and look different – but are the real thing.
Sun bears are the size of large dogs, standing at most 1.3 metres tall on their hind legs.
Edinburgh Zoo jokingly posted on its Twitter on Tuesday: “We can confirm that Rotana is a sun bear…”
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Rotana was first brought to Scotland in 2010 after being rescued from a tiny cage in a private home in Cambodia.
As well as this, Edinburgh is also home to 12-year-old sun bear Babu.
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