Pandas at Chinese zoo turn out to be dogs painted black and white

Fake pandas at China's Taizhou Zoo

A zoo in China has defended its decision of dyeing dogs black and white to pass them off as pandas. According to local reports, zoo visitors were recently left reeling after visiting the panda enclosure at Taizhou Zoo, where chow chow dogs had been painted to resemble miniature pandas.

The fake pandas were unveiled on May 1. Zoo staff had reportedly taken chow chow dogs and trimmed their mane so they would resemble China’s national animal. The dogs were then dyed black and white to pass off as giant pandas in the absence of the real deal.

Taizhou Zoo in China’s Jiangsu Province put the painted dogs on display every day between 8 am and 5 pm, where throngs of visitors congregated to look at them – until word of the zoo’s deception began to spread.

Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province dyed two chow chow puppies black and white and promoted them as so-called “panda dogs.” pic.twitter.com/Jo7q1dBzZJ

— Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) May 5, 2024

The zoo, however, has defended its decision of placing painted dogs in the panda enclosure.

“There are no panda bears at the zoo and we wanted to do this as a result,” a spokesperson for the zoo was quoted as saying. The spokesperson rationalised the zoo’s bizarre move by saying that people also dye their hair.

“People also dye their hair. Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur,” he said.

This is hardly the first time a zoo in China has been accused of engaging in such deception. In August last year, Hangzhou zoo in eastern China was forced to deny allegations that the bear in its bear enclosure was actually a human in costume.