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Woman seen walking a polar bear in Tokyo causes a stir online

The crowd clears room as onlookers snap pics of a woman seemingly walking a polar bear in Tokyo.
The crowd clears room as onlookers snap pics of a woman seemingly walking a polar bear in Tokyo.

While we're not exactly sure what the Lalsh Organization is all about, we do know one thing: It sure know how to make a statement, even if we're not exactly sure what that statement is.

Last night, Twitter began erupting with photos and videos of "a beautiful foreigner walking a polar bear" through Tokyo's famous Shibuya Scramble crossing. The many onlookers, fumbling for their smartphones in their pockets while trying to clear the way, were quick to share the jaw-dropping moment on social media.

As the event began making the rounds on Twitter, so too did the questions: Was that a real polar bear? Was this a hoax? Was that a man inside a polar bear suit? Maybe some kind of anamatronic? That can't possibly be a real bear, right? Well, you be the judge.

If you pay close attention to the video, you may find a few things to be rather odd. I mean, besides the fact that you're watching a video of polar bear walking through the streets of Tokyo, of course:

The shape of the bear, for example, seems to resemble the shape of a human on all fours. The motion of the bear as it walks across the street doesn't appear to be very natural, either. Couple these observations with the fact that the bear failed to maul any of the onlookers and it appears that this is indeed a hoax.

But one astute observer noticed another oddity in the video. The woman is accompanied by two men wearing masks who appear to be tasked with clearing room in the crowd for the woman and the bear to navigate. As the observant netizen discovered, the woman and her escorts all appear to be wearing t-shirts with the word "Lalsh" printed on them. Lalsh, based on what we could gather from its Facebook page, is a group from Russia that classifies itself as an "organization." Replete with photos of the polar bear walk, the Facebook page offers little in the way of answers, but the group is apparently planning to clear the air with a big reveal in Shinjuku near the end of October.

So stay tuned, folks! When we solve the mystery that is Lalsh and their peculiar publicity stunt, we'll let you know. And as for the bear, a photo shared on the Lalsh Facebook page might help shed some light on the authenticity of the animal:

(Photos via Lalsh Facebook page, YouTube screengrab)

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