A Chinese language zoo has been accused of portray canine black and white in a bid to idiot zoo guests into seeing “pandas”.
Social media posts confirmed Taizhou Zoo unveiled a brand new exhibition that includes “panda canine” on 1 Might. Guests had been additionally charged 20 yuan (£2.22) to see the brand new attraction.
However those that travelled to the zoo in Jiangsu province found the animals had been truly chow chows – a canine breed identified for its thick double coat of fur from northern China – which had been dyed to resemble pandas.
In response to Chinese language state media outlet The International Instances, attorneys stated “inevitably the guests will really feel upset and deceived upon discovering the reality” in regards to the exhibit.
However a employee on the zoo denied accusations of false promoting and advised the outlet on Monday: “That is only a new show we provide to guests.
“We aren’t charging additional. The wording that includes chow chow canine is right and precisely describes what they’re, so we’re not dishonest our guests.”
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Per Jam Press, a zoo spokesperson additionally defended the panda exhibit by saying: “Folks additionally dye their hair.
“Pure dye can be utilized on canine if they’ve lengthy fur. There are not any panda bears on the zoo and we wished to do that because of this.”
It is not the primary time a Chinese language zoo has been accused of faking animals: In 2023, Hangzhou Zoo denied claims some of its bears were people in costumes.
In July that yr a clip of a Malaysian sun bear – named Angela – strolling on its hind legs went viral and sparked hypothesis that the animal was a human being in a badly-fitting bear swimsuit.
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A member of the zoo’s employees stated on WeChat on the time: “Our zoo is government-run, in order that form of state of affairs wouldn’t occur.
“The temperature in the summertime is almost 40 levels, when you placed on a fur swimsuit, you definitely could not final quite a lot of minutes with out mendacity down.”
Different Chinese language zoos have been accused of attempting to go off canine with dyed and reduce fur as wolves or African cats.
Chow chow canine, dyed to appear to be pandas, play at an animal park in Zhengzhou, Henan province, in 2010. Pic: Reuters
In 2010, a park in Zhengzhou, Henan province, purchased 4 dyed chow chows and a golden retriever, dyed to resemble a tiger, from a pet market in Sichuan as an try to draw guests, Reuters reported native media as saying.
In 2018, a zoo in Egypt denied it had painted donkeys to look like zebras.