A leopard at the Panzhihua Park Zoo in Sichuan, China has been making waves online due to its “chonky” appearance which gives it a striking resemblance to a character called Officer Clawhauser in the Disney animated film Zootopia.
In March, the chubby leopard went viral after netizens in China mistook the ferocious predator for a seal, commenting that the animal seemed to be well-fed.
According to Red Star News, the leopard is fed three pounds of beef, sometimes accompanied by chicken or rabbit meat on a daily basis.
The 16-year-old leopard was such a hit with netizens that visitors queued up to witness it. In fact, the zoo’s ticket sales rose to 190,000 yuan (RM123,597.37), more than in 2023.
In an attempt to help the leopard shed the excess weight, the zoo attempted to put the animal on a diet, following the advise of Sun Quanhui, a senior scientific adviser at World Animal Protection.
But two months later, and the big cat is still as fluffy as ever.
A member of the zoo keeping staff reported that they had given up the diet plan after consulting multiple experts, who suggested the leopard was too old for such changes.
“All is fine as long as he is healthy and happy,” they were quoted as saying.
According to South China Morning Post, animal obesity is a common problem in China’s zoos.
Not only has the leopard in the zoo gained weight, other zoo animals such as bears, ostriches, and alpacas were reportedly overweight.
