Following a wave of public outrage and condemnation, the zoo authorities were forced to acknowledge their deception.They confessed to having painted ordinary dogs with white and black markings to create the illusion of pandas, misleading the unsuspecting visitors.
A video taken by a visitor showed one ‘panda’ panting while lying on a rock. Later, another one was seen walking with a curly tail. Initially, the zoo claimed the animals were a breed of “panda dogs.”
However, they later admitted the truth and confessed to dyeing the chow chows species of the dogs, as reported by New York Post. The affected visitors demanded refunds after realising the animals were not real pandas.
This revelation also garnered significant attention on social media with people making fun and wondering how the zoo was getting way with this this. “The people were bamboozled. The zoo really does the bear minimum,” said one user. Many saw the humor in the situation as one user said, “Bro this can’t be real. But if it is, it’s the funniest thing I’ve read in a LOOOOONG time.”
This is not the first incident of its kind in China. In May, Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province faced criticism for a similar act. They had dyed chow chows’ faces and displayed them as pandas. A representative from the Taizhou Zoo had explained, “There are no panda bears at the zoo and we wanted to do this as a result.”