One man from China was in for a big surprise when he discovered that his beloved pet dogs were, in fact, two black bears.

Wang Kayui, from the village of Yunnan, bought the cubs two years ago from a Vietnamese man, while he was planting banana trees on the border on China and Vietnam.

However, it was only when he read some conservation leaflets that he realised that his 'puppies' were actually an endangered species, reported People's Daily Online.

Surprise: One of the bears plays with staff from the rescue centre after being taken from its home in Yunnan

Big babies: As they grew up the bears began to look less like dogs and weighed 100lbs each

To begin with, Wang had no idea that there was anything unusual about his pets and he bathed and groomed them everyday.

The proud owner also said that the cubs were very well behaved and had healthy appetites.

Alarm bells only began ringing when the animals grew up, as alongside gaining a greater desire for food, the pair started looking less and less like dogs and weighed 100lbs each.

They also displayed strange behaviour, such as killing and eating Wang's pet chickens.

Family: The brother and sister play together at the Yunnan Wild Animal Rescue Centre where they now live

Despite this, it was only when Wang saw some leaflets from the local Public Security Bureau on endangered wild animals, that he recognised that he had been illegally keeping Category 2 protected endangered animals by accident.

After talking to his family, Wang decided to give the two bears to the local Forest Public Security Bureau, in the hope that the police would be able to re-home the animals for him.

On 30th June, the police came to take Wang's pets from the cages in which he had been keeping them and they were taken in by the Yunnan Wild Animal Rescue Centre.

Feng Lingui, a spokesman for the animal rescue centre, said that the animals have been identified as two Asian black bears, a male and a female, and are in good health.

The rescue centre is now working on suitable arrangements for the furry siblings.

Asian black bears are classed as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

This is mainly because of deforestation and people hunting them for their body parts.