Chinese zoo tried to pass off a golden retriever as a lion

You may have seen that a Chinese Sun Bear has been dividing the internet recently, having gone viral for its uncanny resemblance to a ‘man in a suit’.

The odd claims arose online after a video was posted on Twitter featuring the bear in its enclosure appearing to interact with the public. One shot, in particular, shows the back of the bear and skin folds at the bottom of its back, just over its bottom.

Funnily enough, it's not as far-fetched as it sounds - as not too long ago another zoo was accused of trying to pass off a Golden Retriever as a lion.

In viral footage, the dog could be seen in an enclosure for African lions at Yuanjiashan Zoo in Xichang, in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Weibo

The clip of the pooch at the zoo was uploaded to social media by a man identified only by his surname Tang, who had taken his child to visit the zoo on Saturday 27 March 2021, according to South China Morning Post.

"At first, we thought we had gone to the wrong place. But after walking around the cage, we realised it is where the lion should be housed," Tang said in the video.

"Is that an African lion? Is it because it hasn't grown up yet? It looks familiar to me."

A zoo worker in the video then told Tang this was a temporary arrangement and the lions had been moved while enclosures were modified.

He said: "We are adjusting the animals' accommodations, with the lion's sign not taken down [from the cage] yet."

Tang wasn't convinced by this explanation though, and he accused the zoo of trying to sell tickets under the false pretence that visitors could view lions.

He said: "The money for the ticket is a small deal. What matters [to] me more is that I don't know how to explain the current situation to my kid."

Weibo

See? No wonder we have trust issues with zoo animals these days.

You might assume this is an extremely rare and bizarre situation, but weirdly it's more common than you'd expect. In fact, a couple of years back, another zoo in China was also accused of trying to pass a dog off as a wolf. More plausible, yes, but still pretty silly.

Footage shared on social media by a visitor to Xiangwushan Zoo in Xianning, Hubei province, showed a pooch that looked like a Rottweiler lying down on its side in a cage.

As the man approached the dog he asked: "Woof! Are you a wolf?"

Spoiler alert: I don't think it was a wolf.