Panda dogs: Chinese zoo evicts foxes and replaces them with dyed pup in bid to attract visitors
After videos of dogs dyed to look like a panda went viral and caused a flood of visitors to a Chinese zoo, another zoo has copied the idea with its own panda dog exhibition after evicting a pair of foxes.
The staff at the zoo in the Chinese city of Zibo, which is in the Province of Shandong, apparently evicted the foxes from their enclosure so they could replace them with a dog disguised as a panda.
The decorations in the cage are all related to foxes including cartoon foxes on the walls, and the signs have not even been replaced - indicating that a fox is supposed to be inside.
The videos of the new panda dog inhabitant were posted on October 5 with many people who visited the zoo claiming that initially they thought it was a fox dyed to look like a panda, but upon closer inspection, they realised it was simply a dog.
The videos went viral on Douyin the Chinese version of TikTok and reportedly as hoped sent visitor numbers spiralling. A user called 'Lots Of Fish' commented: "Panda Dog is a hybrid of panda and dog."
Another called 'Say' commented: "This dog is worth a lot of money."
A third called 'Dongping' commented: "Does it eat bamboo?"
It follows on from the initial discovery of Panda dogs shot at a park in Guanguan that allows visitors to see "rare and exotic animals". The zoo claimed it had not misled people as it did not claim the animals were pandas, explaining instead that they were, in reality, "panda dogs". However, when quizzed by local media, they admitted that they had dyed two Chow Chows, a type of spitz dog that is from northern China and is famous for its very thick coat.
Visitors said they became suspicious of the way the panda panted, and when it barked, they realised it was certainly a lot more dog than the panda.
Story Newsflash/AsiaWire