China’s panda center opposes extreme fan culture, vows legal actions against cyberbullying targeting staff

The China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda issued a stern statement on Friday, opposing online harassment targeting its staff and distorting the image of giant panda protection, and resisting the extreme fan culture, or "fanquan," warning that it will pursue legal action against individuals responsible for smearing its personnel and operations.

Since 2024, thanks to joint efforts by public security and cyberspace authorities, the online environment surrounding giant pandas has shown signs of improvement. However, we are deeply saddened to see that some individuals have recently continued to manipulate public opinion both domestically and overseas, smearing China's symbol of friendship—the giant panda—and relentlessly cyberbullying frontline panda staff online, said the statement. 

The center stated that whether under the guise of "public oversight," through online abuse and fan mobilization, or by fueling division to generate hype and pressure professionals to treat giant pandas merely as "cute pets," such unscientific and irrational online frenzies have misled large segments of the public—especially young people—and seriously infringed on the legal rights of staff, violating relevant laws and regulations. 

These actions, it emphasized, are a blatant affront to China's giant panda conservation efforts.

While welcoming public engagement and constructive supervision, the center firmly opposed extreme or illegal actions in the name of "love," rejected the intrusion of "fanquan" culture into wildlife conservation, and stated it would not accept any individual or group engaging in such behavior to be involved in its work.

The statement named several staff members who have become targets of online abuse. The center said it has initiated evidence collection and is working with authorities to hold offenders accountable through legal means. "There will be zero tolerance," it said.