Within hours, the story began to collapse. Wildlife experts and keen-eyed netizens noticed inconsistencies in the photographs released by the city government. The animal’s fur appeared too coarse, its snout too pointed, and its movements too agile for a typical giant panda, which is a lumbering, round-faced bear.
Zoologists and veterinarians who examined the images pointed out that the “panda’s” black patches were not the correct shape or placement. Most damningly, the animal had a long, hairless tail – a feature no bear possesses. Bears have very short, stubby tails. The creature in the ditch clearly had a long, reptilian tail. tainan fake panda incident
The animal’s natural coloration is all-black with a distinctive cream or orange chest patch. The unknown perpetrator had used white paint or dye to create fake eye patches and a white torso, mimicking a panda’s markings. Within hours, the story began to collapse
On June 22, 2019, the Tainan City Government’s Agriculture Bureau received a report from a farmer in the Shanhua District. The farmer had spotted a black-and-white, bear-like creature stuck in a drainage canal and alerted the authorities. In response, the city government issued an official press release and social media announcement stating that a “Formosan black bear” – a protected subspecies native to Taiwan – had been rescued. However, they quickly escalated the claim, suggesting the animal might actually be a giant panda, a species not native to Taiwan and extremely rare in captivity anywhere. Zoologists and veterinarians who examined the images pointed