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Daily Mirror
11 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Hotel told ‘world's cutest wake-up service' is cruel and must stop
Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel, a popular family resort in Chongqing, has become a huge viral hit in China thanks to its red panda wake-up service, that is now attracting heat A Chinese hotel has been told it must stop waking guests up with red pandas. Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel, a popular family resort in Chongqing, currently offers guests the chance to be awakened by the russet-tinted mammals. Many guests are attracted to the hotel solely for its red panda wake-up experience, which involves one of the fluffy animals being led into a guest's bedroom in the morning. The animal is then allowed to walk around the room freely and climb onto the duvet-covered bed if it wishes. The service has become a hit online, earning the title "the world's cutest wake-up service." One British couple, Reanne and Ben, documented the experience on their YouTube channel On Tour With Dridgers. In their video, the red panda can be seen wandering along the hotel corridor with a staff member, entering the room, chomping a chunk of apple, and then climbing onto the couple's bed. The seemingly friendly and relaxed panda allows the duo to stroke it while eating apple from their hands. Now, the Chongqing Forestry Bureau has asked the hotel to stop all activities that allow contact between guests and red pandas. It has sent a team to the hotel to conduct an on-site investigation and said it will release the results of this visit soon. While the nature of the Forestry Bureau's concerns is not currently clear, the attraction has long attracted criticism online from those who warn it could lead to injury of both animal and human, as well as the transmission of diseases. The general welfare of the pandas is also a concern. The hotel said that the red pandas are borrowed from a zoo, have been vaccinated, and are cared for by dedicated staff. They told China Newsweek that four red pandas are kept on-site and are on a rota for guest visits. Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection organisation, told the Global Times that red pandas are a nationally protected wild species. Sun said that they should not be kept as pets or used for tourism-related entertainment, warning that their sensitive natures could lead them to become stressed in such an environment.
NDTV
19 hours ago
- NDTV
Hotel Charges Rs 24,000 For 'Wake-Up Call Service' From Endangered Red Pandas
A Chinese hotel has been mired in a controversy after using endangered red pandas to wake up guests in the morning. The Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel, located in the countryside, near the metropolis of Chongqing, advertised 'red panda-themed holidays', which included bringing the endangered species into guests' rooms for wake-up calls. Photos and videos posted online by social media users showed children in close proximity, interacting with the red pandas on the beds of the hotel. The rooms for the special service were priced at around Rs 24,160 (2,000 yuan) per night and were in high demand, according to a report in The Times. After the videos of the unusual offering went viral, the Chongqing Forestry Bureau ordered the hotel to immediately cease all close-contact activities between visitors and wild animals. Bureau officials have also been sent to conduct an on-site investigation and verification, adding that updates and results will be released in due course, often seen as a threat of prosecution or fines. As per the hotel staff, the red pandas, borrowed from a zoo, are kept on-site and take turns participating in the "wake-up call" room visits. At 9:30 am, a staff member leads one red panda into guest rooms, where it roams freely and "sometimes climbs onto the bed". The hotel claimed that the pandas have been vaccinated and that a dedicated staff is employed to look after them. "Guests are allowed to interact with it. The visit usually lasts a few minutes, depending on the red panda's mood that day," Chinese state media reported. Fewer than 10,000 red pandas remain in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). It is a second-class protected animal in China and has been listed as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. A number of red pandas live in the Eastern Himalayas, but they have been losing their natural habitat due to deforestation. Additionally, they are killed when caught in traps meant for other animals, and they are sometimes poached for their fur.
