Visitors to People’s Park Zoo in the Chinese city of Luohe became suspicious recently after one of the zoo’s main attractions, an African lion, began barking. Officials at the zoo finally fessed up to the dog-in-big-cat’s-clothing, but they did have a legitimate explanation for the absence of their African lion:
The chief of the park’s animal department, Liu Suya, told the paper that while it does have a lion, it had been taken to a breeding facility and the dog – which belonged to an employee – had been temporarily housed in the zoo over safety concerns.
What they don’t have an explanation for is why they attempted to pass a dog off as a lion. The stunt appears to be par for the course at People’s Park Zoo, as zoo officials have been busted in the past for substituting a dog as a wolf, a white fox as a leopard, and two coypu rodents as snakes.
