Tourists who came to the Taizhou Zoo, in the province of Jiangsu, China, began to have doubts about the two pandas in the enclosure.
And according to what they saw at the zoo, and what they also recorded in videos and photos shared on social networks, they looked more like dogs than bears.
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“Why are these two pandas so angry?”, “Is there a breed of panda dog?”were some of the questions asked by the public.
The animals, which joined the zoo on May 1, were announced as a “new species” of pandas, but their characteristics, such as ears and limbs, showed obvious canine features.
The official presentation of this animal at the zoo defines it as a “Panda Dog”.
“It is not a specific purebred dog, but a pet dog that behaves like a bear. “This term is often used to describe dogs that are trimmed in a specific pattern or that are born with a panda-like coat color distribution,” the poster states.
However, unlike the definition of a panda dog, which consists of dogs that are born with a coat similar to that of this type of bear, the truth is that in the specific case of these cubs they were two dogs whose fur was dyed to look like pandas.
Zoo defends dyeing dog fur
A zoo worker confessed to the Chinese media Jiupai News that it is two Chow Chow dogs that are dyed.
“The idea of dyeing dogs to turn them into pandas came from the Internet. This “It is to increase the fun of the zoo and increase the flow of visitors.”he detailed Liu Qiumingstaff member of Taizhou Zoo.
According to the worker, the zoo is not in a position to have real pandas among its animals because they do not have the dimensions to house said animal.
After the zoo acknowledged having intervened in the dogs’ fur, a series of criticisms of the facility for animal cruelty arose.
Given this, the staff of the Taizhou Zoo gave an incredible response to justify their actions. “Normal people also dye their hair. Dogs can also dye their hair if they have long hair. This is the same as hair,” they indicated.
