Story:
Terrified Panda Hugging Police Officers Leg After an Earthquake
Other Versions
Scared Panda Hugs Zookeeper’s Leg after Earthquake
Fact Check:
A heart-warming picture that appears online quite often comes with a claim that the terrified Panda is hugging a Police officer’s leg after an Earthquake that hit Japan in March 2011. The ‘touching’ photograph of the poor frightened panda in fact became a standard image of tragedy on social networks. Nonetheless, the claim about linking the incident to Earthquake disaster is a hoax.
Not Terrified Panda Hugging Police Officer’s Leg
The photograph of the cute Panda holding a man’s leg is actually an old one. It appeared on Chinese website China.eastday.com back on 5 Jan. 2006. The giant Panda was in fact holding a feeder’s legs at the Chinese Giant Panda Protection Center in Wolong, in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on 4 Jan. 2006. At the time, the Chinese mainland was to present a selected pair of giant pandas to Taiwanese compatriots as a symbol of peace, unity and friendship. In this article, you can see few other pictures from the scene.
So, the photograph of Panda hugging a man’s leg is real, but the associated context of terror after earthquake is a hoax.
Hoax or Fact:
Partially Fact.
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