There is popular information on the Internet about an unusual vacancy - supposedly in China they are looking for a person whose main duty will be to hug pandas. We decided to check if this is true.

It is reported that in China they are looking for employees whose duties will include hugging pandas. Media, informational And entertaining portals. Users of social networks share information about an unusual vacancy (“VKontakte", Facebook*, Instagram*, "Classmates", Telegram) and blogging platforms (“Zen", LiveJournal). In some sources others are being confirmed conditions such work: supposedly size salaries, offered to such a specialist is $32,000, and the minimum age of the applicant is 22 years. In addition, the applicant must be able to take photographs and have basic knowledge about pandas. The employer also allegedly promises to provide the employee with housing and food.

Information about this dream job has been circulating on the Internet for several years now. The very first mention of a similar vacancy that “Verified” was able to find was posted in 2014 on website publications of China Daily. The details - salary, requirements for the applicant, other conditions - are completely the same, but the article is about the search for a caretaker at the Chinese Center for the Protection and Research of Giant Pandas in Ya'an. There is no talk about the position of a hugger and in general about the need to hug pandas; employers describe the duties as follows: “Your job has only one mission: to spend 365 days with pandas and share their joys and sorrows.”

At the time of writing the “Verified” analysis, it was not possible to find open vacancies on the official websites of the Chinese Center for the Protection and Research of Giant Pandas or its branches (which includes the center in Yaan) - neither a panda cuddler, nor a caretaker, nor any others. Moreover, no information about already working panda cuddlers could be found on the websites of the center, its branches or other organizations dealing with pandas. Although, for example, the Research Base for Breeding Giant Pandas in Chengdu tells on the Internet about each of its caretakers, as well as about members of the research teams center. Despite the fact that on the pages only employees Indeed, there are cute photographs of people hugging little pandas, but from other photographs one can understand that the duties of such an employee also include feeding (a panda a day eat from 11 to 38 kg of bamboo!), cleaning, nursing newborn pandas and much more. Huang Shunjie from the Chengdu base, who works with young pandas, in an interview with Time tells, who considers one of the main advantages of his work to be the opportunity to constantly cuddle with these animals, but also mentions many other responsibilities, which are not always so easy and pleasant. In March 2023, Guangzhou Zoo staff complained, that finding staff can be challenging because “being a panda keeper is harder than most people think, and the job involves a lot more than just feeding and playing with the pandas.”

Source: Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding

When China donated two giant pandas to the Moscow Zoo in 2019, the media asked its director Svetlana Akulova asked whether they planned to hire a special hugger, to which she replied: “There is no such profession, it’s a joke, you can’t hug pandas, these are wild animals with big claws and teeth.” With her agree and Chengdu Panda Breeding Base caretaker Yang Kuixin, who argues that pandas' friendliness is a common misconception. In fact, people are prohibited from contacting pandas older than two years, as after this age they become ferocious. Also specialists notethat the cute photos of pandas clinging to and hugging keepers' legs actually illustrate a potentially traumatic situation for employees, as pandas can bite hard. Mentioned about the scratches and bites he received and a lover of cuddling young pandas, Huang Shunjie from the center in Chengdu.

Popular on the Internet video, where keepers of panda breeding centers dress up in black and white bear costumes and play with their charges, including hugging them. This is done so that the pandas become unaccustomed to interacting with humans and can be released into the wild to join other pandas. However, even here the role of employees is not limited to hugs: in addition to communication, they teach animals choose their habitat, get food and defend themselves from enemies.

It’s interesting that if you enter the search query “panda hugger” in Chinese, most of the results will not be about working with cute animals, but about politics - this is how it is in the West accepted name supporters of rapprochement with China who support the line of the Communist Party of this country. At the same time, if the profession of panda hugger in the literal sense of these words really existed and was somewhat widespread, it is logical to assume that it would be in Chinese that they should write about it most often. After all, almost all pandas in the world, even those born abroad, belong China is where the largest number of these animals are kept. Other countries receive them “for rent” as diplomatic gestures of goodwill in the amount of only one or two individuals. There is even a separate term - “panda diplomacy"

Since panda breeding centers in China exist, including donations, drawing attention to these animals is very important, and cute photos and videos of good-natured pandas hugging zoo staff do a good job of this. In addition, they inspired tourists to buy services, which previously existed in Chinese nurseries: for 2,000 yuan (about 25,000 rubles at the time of writing) you could hold a panda in your arms and hug it. However, since 2018, this option no longer exists - the panda hugging service canceled for animal protection purposes.

Thus, despite the fact that on the Internet you can find many cute photos of zoo and nature reserve employees hugging pandas, there is no separate profession for hugging these animals. Firstly, it is relatively safe to hug only panda cubs; adults can be aggressive. Secondly, the photographs usually show caretakers of breeding centers, whose duties, in addition to cuddling for photos, include many other things: from feeding and cleaning to nursing newborns and arranging enclosures. Experts note that this is not an easy matter at all, far from the dream job description that went viral on the Internet. However, in the 2014 publication, which, apparently, became the primary source of such posts, not a word was said about the obligation to hug pandas. So calling a caretaker at breeding centers or zoos a panda cuddler can only be done to the extent that kindergarten teachers or nannies can be called child cuddlers. They can do this, but this is far from their only and not their main function.

*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Cover photo: Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding