Image Credit: Disney
Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Chow Chows dogs painted as pandas in a zoo in China
Images via @dailymail/TikTok

‘They get an E for effort’: Chinese zoo comes clean after scheme to paint dogs to look like pandas blows up in their faces when they start barking

The truth is there in black and white.

Zoos in China seem eager to convince the public to come and visit, especially to see pandas, a culturally important and popular animal in the country. There is just one problem, though. They don’t actually have any.

Recommended Videos

A Chinese zoo has been exposed trying to pass off dyed chow chows, a breed of dog, as pandas. The giveaway? Pandas don’t bark.

The Shanwei Zoo was forced to admit the less-than-subtle subterfuge when visitors took a video that spread all over the internet, including TikTok, leading to widespread condemnation within the country. An initial attempt to imply the animals were some kind of “panda dog,” which I can only assume is some an unholy union between dog and bear, fell on deaf ears, and the zoo owned up to their fiendish plot.

@nbcnews

Do these look like #pandas to you? A zoo in #China has been accused of trying to deceive visitors with a pair of #dogs dyed black and white to look like panda bears.

♬ original sound – nbcnews

This is, oddly, the second zoo in China to be caught trying to perpetrate this exact same ruse, as Taizhou Zoo was caught doing the exact same thing in May of this year. According to officials from Shanwei zoo, they did it for a very simple reason: they had no actual pandas. When questioned about any harm that might have come to the dogs from the process, they didn’t seem worried. “Normal people dye their hair,” a representative told Qilu Evening News. “Dogs can dye their hair, too.”

Fake animals have been quite a problem for zoos in China. Back in 2021, Xiangwushan Zoo in Xianning, Hubei province, attempted to pass off a dog as a wolf. The dog was actually used to replace a wolf after the wolf had died of old age. That attempt was pretty poor as they opted to use a Rottweiler instead of anything that looked at all like a wolf.

It is not just an issue exclusive to China, as the International Garden Municipal Park in Cairo, Egypt, was accused of painting a donkey to look like a zebra in 2018. That plan seemed to fall apart when the paint became smudged.

Zoos using fake animals actually go back much further than that. When they were primarily known as menageries and were much smaller, really just a way to keep animals captive in cages as a means of entertainment and stature for the rich families that owned them, many would try to pass off fake animals to get one over on each other. With little known about many wild animals at the time, they must have felt it would be easy enough to convince someone that one animal painted a different color was something else.

However, for zoo officials in China, this seems to be a repeat offense and could be due to the considerable importance of pandas in the country. The giant panda is a national symbol in China, not just as a symbol of the country but also as an important element of Chinese folklore and culture. The efforts being made throughout the country to preserve the panda population is also seen as a very important pursuit, and failure to source pandas and add to these efforts could be something that the zoo officials are concerned about.

The Chinese government has even used pandas as a form of diplomacy, gifting or loaning them to zoos all around the world, a tradition that goes back as far as the Tang Dynasty.

I doubt the countries receiving the pandas would be as impressed if a couple of dyed in the wool panda pooches arrived instead.


We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien
A huge fan of cinema and television, Aidan has been writing in the entertainment space for nearly six years. Always happy to derail meetings with deep discussion about Bladerunner, Brisco County Jr., or why cinema peaked with The Goonies, he will write about anything that takes his fancy. When not organizing his thoughts on modern media he can found enjoying spreadsheets.