Zoo Dyes Chow Chow Dogs to Look like Pandas and Exhibits the Pups as 'Panda Dogs'

What black and white and colored? New “panda dogs” in a Chinese zoo.

According to Newsflare, the Taizhou Zoo in China’s Jiangsu Province has come up with a creative solution to the giant panda shortage. The zoo recently introduced two “panda pandas”.

Video footage from early May shows the new arrivals – fluffy creatures with wagging tails and black ears and eye markings on white faces – strolling through their habitat at the zoo,

If panda dogs look familiar, it’s probably because Chow Chow cubs are painted to resemble pandas. Newsflare reported that local media in China’s Jiangsu province have confirmed that the Chow Chow panda impersonator dogs are painted white and black to resemble pandas.

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A zoo spokesperson also confirmed that the pandas are Chow Chows that the zoo bought and painted after the facility was denied the opportunity to house giant pandas.

The spokesperson added that although news of the pandas’ true identity has spread, the colorful Chow Chows still attract visitors to the zoo.

Painted Chow Chow in Taizhou Zoo on display as “panda dog”.

Newsflare

According to NBC News, a zoo official told the outlet that the panda dogs were still on exhibit as of May 10. The outlet also reported that the zoo responded to criticism of its choice to dye the dogs, telling the Qilu Evening News, “Normally people dye their hair, and dogs can dye their hair.”

Chow Chows are the “all-purpose dog of ancient China,” according to the American Kennel Club. The breed is known for its fluffy, compact and muscular body. Although Chow Chows are not naturally born with panda markings, they are known to have “coarse or smooth coats of red, black, blue, cinnamon or cream,” according to the AKC.

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Taizhou Zoo’s decision to change the appearance of Chow Chow dogs may be attracting some visitors, but the plan has its opponents.

“This is something that’s kind of forced on animals for human entertainment,” Ron Magill, director of communications at Zoo Miami, told TODAY on May 10, adding, “Zoos are there to inspire … or to promote. They’re not here to promote the coloring of domestic animals with colors representing wild animals.”

Two “panda dogs” at the Taizhou Zoo in China.

Newsflare

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This is not the first time that the appearance of an animal inhabitant of a zoo has caused alarm in China. In July 2023, the Hangzhou Zoo in eastern China had to officially deny claims that one of its sun bears was a man in a bear suit after a video of the animal standing on its hind legs went viral.

“Some people think I stand as a person,” the zoo said in a statement written from the bear’s perspective, according to the Associated Press. “You don’t seem to understand me well.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education