At a Chinese zoo, visitors have been arriving in huge numbers to see pandas at the Panda Dog exhibit. But there has been confusion by visitors who have read their tickets.
The tickets read “Xiong Mao Quan” which translates to “Panda Dog.”
Since there has been a lot of hype about the exhibit, many people have come to the seaside town to see the pandas.There have been reports of traffic jams around the zoo as people fight to get carparks.
But there has been some disappointment by visitors who thought that the Panda Dog exhibit had real pandas. Some have become fearful when they realised they were looking at dogs dressed as pandas.
Because pandas are very rare, with fewer than 1900 pandas left in the wild, few people have ever seen one. So they don’t know what a real panda looks like.
Zoo: “We Don’t Care”
But zoo officials at Taizhou Zoo are defiant. While thave admitted the pandas are actually Chow Chow dogs, they defend their right to disguise dogs as pandas and sell tickets to the public.
According The Global Times, zoo officials don’t seem to mind that they are selling tickets to people wanting to see pandas:
“This is just a new display we offer to visitors. We are not charging extra. The wording featuring Chow Chow dogs is correct and exactly describes what they are, so we are not cheating our visitors.”
Taizhou Zoo
Some people on social media are outraged. Dying the fur of a Chow Chow can be harmful to their skin and cause health problems.
But zoo officials say that they are only using natural dye that doesn’t cause any allergies or skin conditions.
Other people think that the panda dogs are very cute because they are small and playful and actually look like pandas if you don’t look too closely.
To buy tickets to see the Panda Dog costs 20 yuan ($2.80) per adult. It’s half price for children taller than 1.4 meters. They check children’s height very carefully at the entrance.
The panda exhibit lasts only for the May holidays. So visitors wanting to see the Panda Dog exhibit will need to hurry to get their tickets.
