China 'panda abuse' images falsely linked to famous S.Korea-born Fu Bao

"The real face of China exposed," read the Korean-language thumbnail of a YouTube video shared on Facebook on July 10.

According to the thumbnail, the video shows the first giant panda born in South Korea, Fu Bao, being abused after she was taken to China.

China has long used "panda diplomacy" as a form of soft power, and Fu Bao's parents -- Ai Bao and Le Bao -- were gifted to South Korea in 2016 by President Xi Jinping.

But Beijing only loans pandas to foreign zoos, which must usually return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country's breeding programme. 

Fu Bao -- which means "treasure that gives happiness" -- was born in 2020 and is a celebrity in South Korea, with her videos on her former zoo's YouTube channel attracting around 500 million views.

Thousands of well-wishers gathered to bid her farewell in April at a ceremony in which zookeeper Kang Cheol-won read out a moving letter referring to himself as her "grandpa".

The thumbnail shows images of a panda being manhandled alongside a photo of Kang crying. 

The text continued: "Fu Bao looked around when she heard the Korean language being spoken, but once the video of her being mistreated was exposed, everything turned upside down."

Image

Screenshot of a Facebook post sharing the false claim, taken on July 16, 2024

The YouTube video itself, which garnered 275,000 views, features a voiceover repeating the claim but does not show footage of animal abuse.

The video's thumbnail circulated on Facebook after South Korean fans of Fu Bao expressed concerns about her welfare in China, pointing to footage that appeared to show the creature in an enclosure with bald patches in her fur.

The China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda posted in May that Fu Bao had adapted to life at her new home and published footage of her being cared for.

The panda was displayed publicly at the sanctuary for the first time on June 12 (archived link). 

Some social media users appeared to believe the thumbnail showed evidence Fu Bao was being mistreated in China.

"Poor Fu Bao, China has no right to keep it," one commented.

"This is why we shouldn't help their panda diplomacy," another wrote. 

2017 footage

A keyword search on Google found the images in the thumbnail were taken from a report on keepers who allegedly abused two panda cubs in China's Sichuan province in 2017. 

China's state-owned Xinhua news agency posted the video in a report in which a staff member at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding responded to the allegations, saying he "instinctively" pushed away a cub that had bitten him and a colleague (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the thumbnail and corresponding frames from the Xinhua video.

Image

Image

The centre said the footage -- which shows staff manhandling the pandas to keep them in an enclosure -- had been "intentionally edited", Chinese state-run broadcaster CCTV reported (archived link).

Footage of the incident circulated widely in news reports, sparking online outrage and accusations of animal cruelty (archived links here and here).

Meanwhile, the image of Kang was taken on the last day Fu Bao was publicly displayed at her zoo in South Korea in March 2024.

A reverse image search on Google found the photo in various South Korean reports, including by the Hankook Ilbo and Newsis, which said it showed him breaking down in tears as he greeted visitors who came to bid farewell to the panda (archived links here and here). 

Below is a screenshot comparison between the image in the thumbnail (left) and the photo published in reports in March (right):

Image

Screenshot comparison between the image in the thumbnail (left) and the photo published in media reports in March 2024 (right)

AFP has previously fact-checked a similar video falsely shared as a panda from China abused in the United States.