China Zoo Tried To Pass Off A Dog As Wolf Because It's Cheaper, Thinking People Won't Complain

A zoo in China replaced a wolf with a dog and thought they could get away with it. Well, they didn’t, obviously.

The Xiangwushan Zoo found it hard to find a replacement after its wolf died. So the bosses decided that they could get a Rottweiler because it was cheaper than a wolf. They said that the dog had a close relation to wolves so visitors of the Hubei province wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

However, contrary to what they expected, visitors weren’t that easy to be fooled. One of them filmed the animal in the cage with a red sign reading ‘The wolf is here.’

The man behind the video said the ticket to the zoo cost 15 yuan (around Rs. 168) with a promise that visitors will see lions, tigers, and wolves.

The zoo managers said it used to have a wolf but the animal died because of old age. They said since there was no place for the Rottweiler and the cage was empty, the dog was the heir of the spot because of the close relationship between it and wolves, they said.

This incident has alerted the local forestry bureau which said it would run an inspection.

After the video was posted on Baidu – a Chinese local social network, it attracted lots of attention.

In 2013, another zoo in Henan province pulled a similar trick, using a Tibetan mastiff dog and pretend it was an African lion. The fraud was exposed when the dog barked.

In 2018, an Egyptian zoo tried to fool visitors a donkey was a zebra by painting stripes on it. After photos went on the Internet, Cairo's International Garden municipal park outright denied all accusations.

>>> Coffee Lovers Beware! You Might Be Drinking Ground-Up Cockroaches, This Doctor Warns