The Yunnan Wild Animal Park in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province exhibits amber gifts created from the panda's bamboo-based excrement on July 26, 2019. Photo: screenshot of video posted by Pear Video

A zoo in Southwest China that converts panda feces into souvenirs says it's for the environment and anyway, it smells great. 

To celebrate the 5th birthday of captive panda Mao Zhu, the Yunnan Wild Animal Park in Kunming, Yunnan Province exhibited paper-based and amber gifts created from the bear's bamboo-based excrement, according to a video posted Friday on Sina Weibo by Pear Video.

The undigested bamboo fiber can be seen in the amber, said an anonymous zookeeper interviewed on the video, and besides, the souvenir offers the viewer a chance to enjoy the changing face of black-and-white ursine droppings.

The stool has a fragrant bamboo aroma on the first day, the keeper noted.

The souvenirs are gifts and not for sale, as the excretion includes panda genes, the keeper said.

Not wanting to release the genes of a panda like they were some kind of domestic copyright issue seemed an odd reason for not selling, internet users noted.

Many pandas are already wandering around zoos overseas, one user posted on Sina Weibo.

While some welcomed an interesting environmental approach, others held their noses.

"I would not want a gift like this even though I know it smells good," posted one user.

Tissue paper made from panda feces was an online best-seller on the Chinese mainland in 2017. 

Pear Video