Unrelated clips misused in false posts claiming 'US abused panda Mei Xiang'

Misinformation about giant pandas on loan from China being abused at American zoos has spread as ties deteriorate between Beijing and Washington. One such video viewed over a million times misuses footage of bears undergoing unrelated medical procedures at institutions in Singapore and Canada, alongside the false claim they show a panda in the United States named Mei Xiang being electrocuted.

"This is authentic footage of panda Mei Xiang being abused in the United States," says a narrator of a video uploaded to Chinese short-video-sharing platform Kuaishou on March 25, 2023.

A caption with the video says the animal was "electroshocked and artificially inseminated 24 times, and forced to give birth at 22 years old", which is considered elderly.

The accompanying thumbnail of the video -- viewed more than 1.6 million times -- shows medical staff surrounding a panda on a stretcher. Simplified Chinese text superimposed on the thumbnail makes the same claim.

Another series of clips featured repeatedly in the Kuaishou video shows a panda in an operating room, also surrounded by staff.

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A screenshot of the Kuaishou video, taken October 18, 2023

Mei Xiang, an ageing female, is one of three pandas living in the United States' National Zoo in Washington, on loan from China (archived link). They will be repatriated by the end of 2023 after more than two decades in the capital city (archived link).

But political tension between Beijing and Washington has clouded the bears' long-planned return, with misleading or false claims that pandas have been abused at US zoos ricocheting across Chinese social media in recent months.

The latest claim about Mei Xiang, also shared on Weibo and TikTok sibling Douyin, has misled many internet users into believing she was mistreated.

"The Mei Xiang family are not a profit-making tool," users commented, referring to the panda, her mate Tian Tian and their offspring born in the United States. "Please give them back quickly."

Another said: "Evil against pandas will not be forgiven."

However, the video shared in the false posts misuses unrelated footage from several different zoos to create the misleading impression that the panda in Washington has been abused.

Electroejaculation and artificial insemination

A Google reverse image search found the same footage of a panda in an operating room uploaded to YouTube on April 21, 2015 by the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, which manages the Singapore Zoo (archived links here, here and here).

The video is titled: "Giant pandas undergo electroejaculation and artificial insemination."

“On 18 April, Kai Kai was brought into the Wildlife Healthcare and Research Centre for a health check, followed by electroejaculation -- a technique commonly used for semen collection,” its caption reads.

The research centre is located at the Singapore Zoo, which currently hosts two pandas on loan from China, Kai Kai and Jia Jia (archived link). Their cub Le Le is set to return to China in December 2024 (archived link).

The electroejaculation procedure involves the application of low-level electrical currents to stimulate the nerves responsible for erection and ejaculation (archived link).

It is routinely carried out on pandas as part of breeding efforts for the sex-shy animals.

Below are screenshot comparisons between the false Kuaishou video (left) and Singapore Zoo's video (right):

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Screenshot comparisons between the false Kuaishou video (left) and Singapore Zoo's video (right)

Singaporean broadcaster Channel News Asia uploaded the same clip to its Facebook page, noting Kai Kai underwent the procedure after a failed mating session with Jia Jia (archived link).

Further keyword searches found another YouTube video uploaded by Canada's Calgary Zoo on April 3, 2019, which corresponds to the clips seen in the false post (archived link).

The video is titled "Artificial Insemination of Er Shun" and the description states the bear underwent the procedure as part of the Giant Panda Collaborative Breeding Program.

The panda Er Shun and her mate Da Mao arrived in Canada in 2013 on a 10-year loan agreement with a Chinese breeding facility. But the pair were shipped back to China in November 2020 as the Calgary Zoo struggled to source bamboo to feed the creatures during the Covid-19 pandemic, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported (archived link).

Below are screenshot comparisons of the video in the false posts (left) and the Calgary Zoo's video (right):

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Screenshot comparisons of the video in the false posts (left) and the Calgary Zoo's video (right)

Canadian media Global News and national news agency The Canadian Press also reported Er Shun's artificial insemination in April 2019 (archived links here and here).

The Kuaishou video has also misused several unrelated clips of pandas to make the false claim about Mei Xiang being "electrocuted".

It includes footage from a March 2022 YouTube video by the Memphis Zoo showing a training and enrichment exercise for the bears, as well as a clip of Mei Xiang's cub getting its first veterinary check-up uploaded to YouTube by the Smithsonian's National Zoo in September 2020 (archived links here and here).

Another series of clips also from the National Zoo shows Mei Xiang being artificially inseminated in 2018 (archived link).

The National Zoo states Mei Xiang has been artificially inseminated almost annually since 2004, but has since been retired from the breeding program (archived links here and here).

The procedure increases the possibility that a panda will get pregnant and helps widen the diversity of panda genes (archived link).

The Smithsonian National Zoo has spent millions of dollars on panda care and accommodation partly to encourage breeding efforts, AFP reported.