Visitors have apparently been queueing to see the attraction at Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province, China

On May 1, the zoo drew large crowds of excited animal lovers as it prepared to unveil a new attraction.

When the zoo revealed the animals, visitors were met with the sight of little four-legged creatures, with white faces and black spots around their eyes and ears - not unlike the colorings of a panda.

The only thing is, these creatures weren’t pandas. In fact, they were Chow Chows - a dog you might recognize from real life or social media, since they’re very much the opposite of a wild animal.

The spitz-type dogs originally come from northern China, and were presented at the zoo because the owners said they didn’t have any actual pandas to show visitors.

The owners were accused of trimming and dying the dogs to look like pandas, causing some backlash as locals accused the zoo of animal cruelty.

However, a spokesperson for the zoo hit back at the criticism as they pointed out that ‘people also dye their hair’.

  • PP_BOY_English
    30•11 days ago

    Honestly? I’d kinda be down for this in a different context. This is hilarious and I’m sure that dogs can handle a zoo environment better than pandas. Obviously, don’t try to pass them off as the real thing

  • Shawdow194
    16•11 days ago

    As long as ethical and natural dyes are used- and as another commenter pointed out dogs are probably more suited/relaxed for a zoo environment than most zoo animals - I personally think it’s fine.
    Its not like they are gonna be dyed and on display indefinitely. And I assume visitors werent charged extra or under the impression they would expect real pandas at this mystery display