Mango pits or pets

Chinese youngsters are creating pets using mango seed which has sprouting hair which has left social media users shocked

In a bizarre trend, mango pits are being kept as “pets” by Chinese people, who have now gone beyond keeping young animals.

The latest “animal” companion fad in which pets are being created by youngsters from mango seed with sprouting hair has left the mainland social media shocked after online media outlet Jiupai News reported it on July 20.

The strange practice is a follow-up of a similar type of bizarre trend of university students using cardboard to make “pets” out of mango pits which started last year. As per the owners of this bizarre mango pit, such pets give them the same happiness as a dog or cat and provide them with therapeutic comfort.

Two such pets are being raised by a 19-year-old university student Liu, who is from the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin. Liu even maintains a “mango pit diary” of the pair on Xiaohongshu, which is a Chinese version of Instagram.

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So far, Liu has shared 11 diary entries about Da Mao and Er Mao, or Hairy I and II, both of whom have been designated by her as female. She also documents the changes she notices in the texture of the hair of the mango pits and writes about how it changes from being dry and prickly to something which is “very comfortable to pat”. The diary also tracks how the mango seed changes colour from yellowish to white.

Another mango pit raiser Xiaomeng, while speaking to Jiupai News, said that the owner needs to buy the right kind of mango to raise an ideal pit pet. It requires a lot of work to nurture the “pet” as the seed just not only requires to be washed and brushed but needs to be kept in the sun to prevent mould.

Xiaomeng has been using a hair dryer while brushing her mango pit so as to make it fluffy and Liu has been applying aloe vera gel to the seed. Liu has described her two “daughters” as “ideal pets” which are a “cheap substitute for hamsters”.

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She stated that her roommate has also been raising a hairy companion mango but it is “not as good-looking as mine”. As per Liu’s social media posts, commenters also volunteered to be “aunties” to the mango pits. “Will hair conditioner and skin cream make their hair smoother?” one person quizzed.

“I think Da Mao looks quieter while Er Mao seems to have a lively character,” while another said. “So nice that they can bring these pets home after graduation, and we don’t see pet cats and dogs being abandoned,” a third person said while backing the fad.

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