Hotel which uses a live PANDA to wake up guests is rapped by local forestry bureau amid animal rights concerns

Daily Mail​

20-06-2025

A hotel in China which uses live red pandas to wake up guests has been rapped by the local forestry bureau amid animal rights concerns.
The Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel, in the mountainous countryside near the southwestern city of Chongqing, advertise 'red panda-themed holidays'.
They allowed the furry creatures to visit boarders in their rooms to providing an adorable wake-up call, until publicity attracted criticism of the practice.
Videos posted to social media even show the endangered animals sitting on overjoyed tourists beds and interacting with them.
Many safari experiences in the country promise close contact with animals, but it is the hotel's red panda meet-and-greets which caught the attention of local media.
A Chinese magazine published an article about the service which triggered discussion over ethics on social media.
This caught the attention of the local forestry bureau who then sent inspectors to investigate.
The bureau released a statement to say it had ordered an immediate halt to all 'close contact' activities red pandas and vowed to report back on any further findings - which is often seen as a threat of prosecution or fines.
British YouTubers Ben and Reanne Dridger, who post vlogs of their travels through China's provinces, gushed about their own red panda encounter at the hotel in April.
'China is the only place in the world where you can have a panda delivered to your room to sit on your bed with you,' Ben said before panning the camera to Reanne who was hand feeding chunks of apple to the friendly, and seemingly docile, animal.
'That's so cool,' remarked Reanne, as the red panda - one of four kept at the hotel - crawled across the bed and sniffed the camera pointed in its face.
Chinese guests posted similar videos of interaction with the animals on Douyin - a popular social media site in the country.
Hotel staff said how long the creatures decide to stay in guest's rooms 'depended on the red panda's mood that day', China Newsweek reported.
Communist Party newspaper The Global Times put out a severe warning that the practice may be a breach of animal rights.
The hotel responded to concerns over red pandas potentially being unhygienic or dangerous to children by insisting they were all vaccinated, and children were required to be accompanied by an adult.
Despite their name, red pandas are not closely related to the black and white giant pandas which live in the same region of China, and is in fact part of the extended raccoon family.
Red pandas are currently listed as an endangered species by the IUCN, and it is believed there are less than 10,000 living in the wild.
Before a ban in 2018, close contact activities with giant pandas, such as paying for pictures with cubs, was common practice.
But the Liangjiang Hotel seems to have dodged prosecution due to the fact red pandas are not technically in the giant panda family.