Chinese zoo under fire for disguising dog as lion

This is one of the better news stories I have come across in a while. A zoo in China is facing an uproar of criticism this week, after it was revealed that its African lion is in fact a dog. Quite clearly the guys running the zoo are yet to watch Disneys The Lion King. The zoo reportedly tried to disguise a Tibetan mastiff (a large and long-haired breed of dog) as a big cat, putting it on display in a cage marked "African lion". Apparently the zoo's charade was exposed after visitors heard the animal bark.

According to the People's Daily, the zoo also tried to replace other exotic animals with even less congruous substitutes. The snake cage, for instance, contained two large rats and exactly zero snakes, while a leopard cage reportedly included fox-like creatures and another dog in a wolf pen. Users of China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo service mocked the zoo. "This is not funny at all. It's sad for both the zoo and the animals," said one. "They should at least use a husky to pretend to be a wolf," said another.