The picture that fooled the internet: Photo of panda flying business class from China to America tricks thousands

By NINA GOLGOWSKI

Panda express! A hoax photo of this panda bear seen allegedly flying business class on a China Airlines flight to the U.S. has circulated around the world to thousands of views and shares online A shocking photograph of a panda bear flying business class on a China Airlines fight has been shared by thousands of mesmerized and astonished viewers online. But what those believers of the bunch failed to realize, the panda isn't real. 'When you look at this photo you might assume that you’re seeing a man on an airplane seated beside a big plush panda. But guess what, that’s not a toy. That’s a real live panda cub and he’s flying first class,' website Geyser of Awesome posted with the photo on Saturday.

Behind the photo: A fake press release explaining the bizarre photo explains the bear as traveling from Chengdu where pandas like these two, Qiqi (left) and Zhizhi, live 'China Airlines is a proud corporate sponsor of the panda sanctuary at Chengdu and was happy to help out recently with the transfer of a young panda cub to a zoo in the United States of America,' a dually-circulating hoax press release by China Airlines reads with the picture. 'After extensive consultation with the Sanctuary’s veterinary staff it was concluded that the importance of the panda cub precluded it from traveling in the hold of the aircraft, where attending to its needs would be difficult. Thus China Airlines agreed to donate seats in its Business Traveler First cabin for the panda cub named Squee Squee and his carer, Fu Jiang Lang, seen here sitting in the window seat.'

Attention grabbing: This photo posted on China Airlines' Facebook page lightheartedly briefs passengers on luggage restrictions while showing a baby placed in the overhead bin Most websites opted to cut out the press release from here on. But the third and last paragraph added the most surprising and ultimately perhaps obvious detail behind its authenticity. 'In the interests of hygiene Squee Squee wore a plastic nappy to take care of pandapoop during the flight,' that last paragraph begins. source :dailymail