Why Red Pandas Were Fired From Their Hotel Wake-Up Call Jobs

With their long, fluffy tails, white-lined ears, and quiet demeanor, red pandas are some of the cutest creatures in the animal kingdom. But while they are experts at looking adorable, they don’t exactly have stellar reputations when it comes to employment. In fact, a group of red pandas were recently fired from their personal wake-up call jobs at a hotel in China.

According to The Independent, a hotel in Chongqing called the Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel offered a popular service with guests involving red pandas, until the local forestry bureau made them stop. At this family resort, red pandas would climb into guests’ beds in the morning as a personal (and adorable) wake-up call. The red pandas would roam freely around the guests’ rooms and climb onto the beds for snuggles and petting. A hotel staff member would be present with apple chunks on hand to treat the red pandas throughout the experience.

According to The London Times, there are four red pandas kept at this hotel to wake up guests. This was an advertised and beloved experience by many people, including a British couple who vlogged about their trip to the hotel earlier this year, stating that people “at home” have “never had anything like this.”

Animal Safety Is a Concern

While the whole experience sounds like something out of a Disney princess movie — imagine being woken up by wild animals as cute as these! — people were concerned that this wasn’t safe for the animals. The Chongqing Forestry Bureau asked the hotel to “immediately cease all close contact activities” between red pandas and visitors, per the Independent. This is due to the fact that red pandas are a second-class protected animal in China, per Global Times, and are considered Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species.

If the hotel doesn’t follow the orders, it may be subject to prosecution or fines. Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection, told Global Times that because red pandas are a nationally protected wild species, they should not be used for entertainment or kept as pets.

“Red pandas are naturally sensitive animals, and being forced to interact with guests in unfamiliar environments can trigger stress responses, harming both their physical and psychological well-being,” Sun said. “As wild animals, red pandas may react aggressively when frightened. Moreover, wild animals often carry various pathogens, and vaccines can only prevent a limited number of diseases. Close contact with humans still carries the risk of virus transmission. In fact, there have been past incidents where red pandas bit hotel guests.”

It should be noted that a representative for the hotel said that the pandas were all vaccinated and were not allowed around children without an adult present, per The London Times.

All About Red Pandas

Red pandas are found in the Himalayas, typically in forests at altitudes between 1,800 and 4,000 meters. Historically, red pandas were found throughout Bhutan, Nepal, India, Myanmar, and China, but now, this species has disappeared from some parts of its historical range, and current estimates suggest there are fewer than 10,000 red pandas left in the wild.

It makes sense that officials would be worried about red pandas working at a hotel. In the wild, they love climbing bamboo trees and eating their leaves. They will use their extra “false thumb” and flexible ankles to grasp and hold bamboo stalks, and their tails as balance, allowing them to climb through trees. They will spend the majority of their time in the trees, even sleeping up there. In their natural habitats, red pandas prefer a solitary life. However, they have been known to be more social if they were born in a zoo.

Another reason red pandas weren’t right for the job? They are nocturnal animals, meaning they spend most of the daylight hours asleep and are awake at night. Therefore, making them work an early morning shift to wake up guests is unfair — they likely needed their own wake-up call just to be ready for the job.

There are other places around the world that offer interactions with red pandas that are more considerate of the animals’ natural habitat. Like the Sainte-Croix Parc Animalier & Lodges Nature in France, where you can sleep in a treehouse and see red pandas in trees from a suspension bridge. Or the West Midlands Safari Park in England, with two-story cottages full of windows to allow you to watch red pandas roaming free. There’s nothing wrong with loving red pandas and wanting to see them in real life; just be sure to do so in a way that protects the health and well-being of these endangered creatures.