Chinese zoo under fire after dyeing dogs to resemble pandas

HONG KONG — A zoo in China has been accused of making an attempt to deceive guests with a pair of canine dyed black and white to appear like panda bears.

Movies circulating on Chinese language social media present the 2 “panda canine” in an exhibit at Taizhou Zoo within the jap province of Jiangsu that opened on Could 1. Although the animals are patterned to appear like pandas, that are endemic to China and a world image of the nation, their wagging tails give them away.

Zoo officers instructed Chinese language state media that they had been Chow Chows — a fluffy canine breed initially from northern China — painted black and white to resemble large pandas, including that they’d clearly marketed them as “panda canine” and didn’t make any false claims.

The canine are nonetheless on the zoo, officers instructed NBC Information by cellphone on Friday, the place the variety of folks coming to see them remained “at a standard degree.”

The zoo, which doesn’t have actual pandas, was nonetheless criticized by state media and others for deceptive guests and mistreating the canine.

“It’s not humorous in any respect to dye Chow Chow canine to draw vacationers,” one commenter wrote on the social media platform Weibo. “Their fragile pores and skin and naturally thick coats make them prone to pores and skin illnesses.”

Zoo officers defended the exhibit, saying the canine had not been harmed.

“Regular folks dye their hair,” a spokesperson instructed Qilu Night Information. “Canines can dye their hair, too. It’s the identical as hair.”

This isn’t the primary time that “panda canine” have set off social media dialogue in China.

In 2019, a canine cafe within the southwestern province of Sichuan raised animal rights issues with its six Chow Chows that had been additionally dyed to appear like the bears.

In 2020, in the identical province, a “panda” being walked by a girl in a video that went viral was revealed to be a dyed Chow Chow.

Different zoos in China have additionally been accused of getting faux animals, typically canine they tried to current as wolves or African cats.

Final July, a zoo within the jap province of Zhejiang denied that its Malayan solar bears had been human beings in disguise after a video of 1 standing like an individual went viral. Consultants debunked the declare and the zoo stated there was no means an individual in a fur go well with would be capable of face up to such excessive summer time temperatures.