Full warning about pandas!
Visitors to zoos in China were outraged to discover that the so-called “pandas” they were cooing over were actually painted dogs.
Duped visitors claimed they only realised the scam at Shanwei Zoo when one of the apparent pandas began panting and barking, according to local media.
A video filmed by a visitor showed one of the not-so-subtly disguised dogs clearly panting as it lay on a rock inside a fenced area.
A few moments later, a second dog can be seen walking, with a long, curly tail.
At first, the zoo tried to brush off the hoax by bizarrely claiming the animals were a breed of “panda dogs.”
However, she later confessed that she had just dyed two chow chows, a breed of spitz popular in northern China.
Visitors demanded their money back after the horrific barking incident was revealed.
This is not the first time a Chinese zoo has faced backlash over a similar fake: a group of fake pandas were discovered at Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu province in May.
Zoo officials dyed the faces of several chow chows and put them on display.
When asked why they tried to trick visitors, a zoo representative said: “There are no panda bears in the zoo and we wanted to do this as a result.”
