A Chinese hotel has been ordered to end its unusual wake-up call service that involves red pandas climbing onto guests’ beds after concerns for safety and animal rights.
Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel, a popular family resort in Chongqing, has been called on by the local forestry bureau to stop one of its most popular services. Many guests are attracted to the hotel solely for its red panda wake-up experience.
The service involves bringing one of the hotel’s red pandas up to a guest’s bedroom in the morning, allowing the panda to roam freely around the room and climb onto the bed.
Reviews online for the resort show guests checking in just so they can book the experience and get up close to cute, furry animals from the comfort of their hotel room.
One British couple, Reanne and Ben, who run the YouTube channel On Tour With Dridgers, documented their experience with the red pandas at Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel in April.
The video shows the red panda first climbing a tree in the small courtyard between rooms before it roams through the corridor to the couple’s room with a staff member, where it is given apple chunks and hops onto the bed.
The YouTubers stroke the panda while it eats the apple from the palm of their hands.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’ve got a panda on my bed,” Reanne says.
Despite the popularity of the service, the Chongqing Forestry Bureau has reportedly asked the hotel to immediately cease all close contact activities between the pandas and visitors.
Staff at the hotel told China Newsweek that four red pandas are kept onsite and take turns participating in the wake-up call room visits.
A member of staff will lead them up to the guest rooms, and visitors are allowed to interact with them for a few minutes before the animal is led away again.
There have been concerns about injury or disease transmission voiced by people online, but the hotel said that the red pandas are borrowed from a zoo, have been vaccinated and a cared for by dedicated staff.
The hotel also said that young children should always be accompanied by an adult during the wake-up call session.
Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection organisation, told the Global Times that red pandas are a nationally protected wild species and should not be kept as pets or for tourism-related entertainment.
He added that the pandas are naturally sensitive animals, and being forced to interact with guests could trigger a stress response.
The forest bureau has sent a team to the hotel to conduct an on-site investigation, and said it will release the results of this visit.
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