Zoo releases video confirming standing bear is not human

(Reuters/CBS/CBS Newspath) - An England zoo on Tuesday released footage of one of its Malayan Sun bears standing upright, after a video of a bear in a Chinese zoo went viral, with some suggesting it might be a staff member in a bear suit.

“We can confirm that Kyra is a Sun bear,” Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire, England, said on social media, after a Sun bear named Angela from Hangzhou Zoo became a trending topic on Chinese social media over the weekend.

“Sun bears might look human when they stand, but they actually have the natural behaviour of standing on their hind feet,” Paradise Wildlife Park said in a statement.

The Malayan Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) earned its name from the bright golden patch on its chest. It is the smallest member of the bear family, and can be found in the dense lowland forests of Southeast Asia.