Bear Facts: Did a Chinese zoo paint dogs to make them look like pandas?

Can dogs pass for pandas? Certainly not. But in a chinese zoo, “panda dogs” is a real thing.

Visitors of a zoo in China’s Jiangsu province raised eyebrows when they found animals on ’exhibit’ were not miniature pandas, but coloured dogs.

Even after the outrage from visitors over its deceptive tactic, the zoo defended its actions and stands true to its invention of so-called “panda dogs”.

How did this whole drama unfold? We explain.

The controversy

It all began on 1 May, when most people on holiday thronged the Jiangsu province’s Tainzhou Zoo, in the hope of seeing some cute pandas.

To lure visitors, the zoo which promised to show “Xiong Mao Quan,” which translates literally to “panda dogs” on its tickets reportedly gave a makeover to two spitz breed Chow Chow dogs.

The zookeepers had reportedly taken the dogs, known for their thick double coat of fur, dyed them black and white, and trimmed their mane so they would resemble the Chinese national animal.

These painted dogs passed under the deceptive name of “panda dogs” have been on display on all days of the May Day holidays, between 8 am and 5 pm.

The zoo was found selling its tickets priced at 20 yuan (around Rs 236) per adult and 10 yuan (around Rs 115) per child, according to The Global Times report. 

There was widespread outrage when zoogoers realised they were looking at Chow Chow dogs instead of pandas. Some people even took to social media to accuse the zoo of animal cruelty along with deceiving its customers and posting videos of the panda enclosure.

“Inevitably the visitors will feel disappointed and deceived upon discovering the truth,” some lawyers were quoted as saying in The Global Times.

Zoo’s response

After the outrage, the zoo admitted that the two “fake pandas” were, in fact, Chow Chow pups who made their debut as “panda dogs” on the national holiday.

But, refusing to believe that they used deceptive language on their tickets, the zoo said they delivered what was promised on the ticket — “panda dogs” and did not charge extra.

“This is just a new display we offer to visitors. We are not charging extra. The wording featuring Chow Chow dogs is correct and exactly describes what they are, so we are not cheating our visitors,” a ticket seller was stated in The Global Times.

The spokesperson said the move came as the zoo wanted to “fill in the blank” and did not have enough space to accommodate pandas, which are a huge tourist attraction.

China is the home of pandas; there are approximately 1,800 giant pandas in the wild and 600 in captivity, with their habitat limited to the mountains of southwestern China.

The zoo further said a staff member got the idea of dyeing dogs online, a move that can help them increase visitors.

“This way, we will be able to add more fun into the zoo and boost footfall,” the staff told Jiangsu News.

Responding to allegations of animal cruelty, the spokesperson gave a bizarre argument that even people dye their hair.

“People also dye their hair. Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur,” he was quoted as saying in a Moneycontrol report.

Not a first for Chinese zoos

In August 2023, allegations had surfaced against Hangzhou Zoo in eastern China, claiming that they had resorted to dressing a man in a bear costume within their bear enclosure due to the absence of real bears. Similarly, a viral video in July depicted a Malaysian sun bear named Angela walking on its hind legs, leading to speculation that it was a person in a poorly fitting bear suit.

A staff member of the zoo, speaking to The Sun on WeChat, refuted the claims, stating, “Our zoo is government-run, so that kind of situation would not happen.

“The temperature in the summer is nearly 40 degrees, if you put on a fur suit, you certainly couldn’t last more than a few minutes without lying down.”

In other instances, several Chinese zoos have faced accusations of attempting to pass off dyed and groomed dogs as wolves or African cats.

Reports have cited an incident from 2010, where a park in Zhengzhou, Henan province, reportedly acquired four dyed Chow Chows and a golden retriever, dyed to resemble a tiger, from a pet market in Sichuan. This was allegedly done in a bid to attract visitors, as reported by local media outlets cited by Reuters.

With inputs from agencies