K-pop group Blackpink slammed for petting pandas at zoo without safeguards, accused of passing on diseases
Members of K-pop girl group Blackpink are facing backlash on the internet after they were reportedly seen mishandling pandas in a reality TV episode. In a trailer released of their show on YouTube, the band members were reportedly seen petting three-month-old panda cub Fu Bao and an adult panda at a South Korean zoo. As per The Daily Mail, the minute-long clip was released last week and resulted in instant blowback on the internet in China, which had loaned the pandas to South Korea.
Chinese social media users immediately accused the group of violating panda protection guidelines for petting a cub. They also alleged that the band members were touching the adult panda without removing their makeup and were wearing no gloves or face coverings. Though that particular episode of the reality TV show has been pulled after the outcry, Blackpink's company has said that they followed every rules and regulations to ensure that the pandas weren't harmed during the shooting.
According to reports, Fu Bao is the first panda to be born in South Korea and she was introduced to the world last week only. Her parents, Le Bao and Ai Bao, were brought to South Korea from Sichuan province in China four years ago as part of Beijing’s “panda diplomacy”. Currently, the family is living in the Everland Zoo in Yongin, a city near Seoul. The controversial trailer was released by Blackpink on YouTube to promote the last episode of their show '24/365 with BLACKPINK'. The clip showed band members, Jennie and Rosé, sitting outside a cage to pet the adult panda under the instruction of a zoo worker. They were reportedly seen interacting with the animal without wearing gloves or face masks. The video later showed four members of the band - all wearing protective suits, gloves and face masks - meeting with the panda cub.
Reports said the video was filmed in a fun way, but people from China took offence as they took to Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, to criticize it. The hashtag - “South Korean celebrities violated rules to touch a panda cub” - has reportedly garnered over 800 million views and 97,000 discussions on Weibo as of Tuesday, November 10. Another hashtag reportedly trending on the social media platform read “Blackpink violated rules to touch a panda cub”, amassing over 68 million clicks and 55,000 comments. The people were unhappy and angry as they believed the stars had unintentionally passed on diseases to pandas by touching them.
The China Wildlife Conservation Association has accused the zoo of not following the professional requirements for panda protection and asked it to block non-professionals from interacting with the panda cub. The full episode of the show ‘24/365 with BLACKPINK’ was set to be released on November 7, but due to the backlash, was postponed. Blackpink's music label, YG Entertainment, defended the stars’ visit to the zoo and said in a statement, “'When BLACKPINK met the baby panda, all members wore hygiene gloves, masks and protective clothing ... hands and shoes were disinfected at every transition.”
