This week, news of a family in China who had allegedly thought they had adopted a Tibetan mastiff was circulating after it was revealed that the dog was, in fact, an Asiatic black bear. The family, who had raised the bear for two years on boxes of fruit and buckets of noodles, told local media they couldn’t figure out why the animal kept growing, and were reportedly surprised to learn of its true identity.

Perhaps surprisingly, this sort of mix-up happens fairly often. There are other stories of people who have taken in animals thinking they’re domesticated, only to realize the animals are wild creatures. Earlier this month, a woman handed over a fox to a Chinese zoo after raising it as a Japanese spitz for nearly a year. In April, National Geographic reported on a man who had taken a leopard cat from the wild after apparently mistaking it for a domestic kitten.

However, it’s hard to mistake wild animals for domesticated ones, experts say. Lynn Cuny, founder and president of Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation in San Antonio, says young wild animals have a different look and smell to them compared to domesticated pets. Wild animals will be more scared and anxious in unfamiliar environments with humans than their domesticated counterparts might be.

“You never think you’re hearing a dog or a puppy when you hear a bear,” Cuny says. “My first reaction to this is that there’s something more going on here than just an honest mistake. This should never happen.”

Asiatic black bears are listed as a vulnerable species. They’re in high demand in places like Vietnam, where they’re illegally traded and milked for their bile. The yellow liquid is falsely marketed as a treatment for everything from cancer to hangovers.

Cuny adds that the problem of animals being taken from their homes in the wild all comes back to how we treat—and, in some cases, abuse—animals.