Just a Tibetan Mastiff masquerading as a lion (Picture: Barcroft)

A zoo has landed itself in hot water after trying to pass off fluffy dogs as lions and rats as snakes.

A clearly-marked sign claimed an animal in one of the cages was an African lion but visitors became infuriated when it was clear a chow chow dog was inside instead.

Visitor Liu Wen said: ‘I had my young son with me so I tried to play along and told him it was a special kind of lion.

‘But then the dog barked and he knew straight away what it was and that I’d lied to him.’


A fox, in the leopard enclosure, naturally (Picture: Barcroft)

Elsewhere in the zoo, foxes were used to impersonate leopards and another dog was used to impersonate a wolf.



And in their most creative feat a couple of rats, clearly scurrying around in a cage, were labelled snakes.

Punters were obviously having none of it, especially when they were alarmed to hear a dog barking inside one of the cages.

Two rats, not to be confused with snakes (Picture: CEN)

Sharon Liu, who had taken her six-year-old son to the zoo, told the Orient Today newspaper she was teaching him all the sounds the animals make but instead only heard barking.

‘To use a dog to impersonate a lion is definitely an insult to tourists,’ she said.

Another, unnamed woman, added: ‘The zoo is absolutely cheating us. They are trying to disguise the dogs as lions.’

Yu Hua, head of the People’s Park where the zoo is located said private contractors ran the zoo.

A manager at the zoo in the eastern Chinese city of Luohe desperately tried to explain what had happened, saying the dog was the lion’s friend and the African animal had been sent to another zoo to breed.

Another dog, a different kind of lion (Picture: Barcroft)

A spokesman for the zoo added: ‘We’re doing our best in tough economic times. If anyone is unhappy with our displays we will give back their money.’

In 2010, the government stopped giving contracts to private operators for animal parks and zoos, but the contract for the Luohe zoo has not expired yet.

The signs would be ‘promptly corrected’, Mr Yu insisted

Dyeing pets’ fur to make them look like other animals, such as painting dogs black and white to make them look like pandas, appears to be a trend in China.