Tainan Fake Panda Incident Hot! -

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.

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. tainan fake panda incident

In June 2019, a seemingly heartwarming news story from Tainan, Taiwan, quickly turned into an international embarrassment and a case study in social media misinformation. The incident, widely dubbed the “Tainan Fake Panda Incident,” involved the discovery of what local authorities initially claimed was a rare, wild panda in a drainage ditch. Within hours, the story began to collapse

After intense public scrutiny and internal investigation, the Tainan City Agriculture Bureau admitted its error. The “panda” was not a bear at all. It was a ( Helarctos malayanus ) that had been painted black and white. The bear had likely escaped or been abandoned by an illegal exotic pet owner or a roadside zoo. On June 22, 2019, the Tainan City Government’s