It’s a lion… it’s a bear… could it be a tiger? No lads, it’s a flipping dog pretending to be a African lion. We shall call him Tibetan mastiff, the dog who tricked visitors at a Chinese zoo. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a Chinese zoo in the People’s Park of Luohe had a huge dog on show pretending to be a lion. The dog managed to fool patrons (for a while) due to having a mane similar to that of a lion.

The zoo’s charade went on for quite a while until something extraordinary happened: visitors heard barking in the lion’s cage, only then did they realize this animal was a dog. By looking at the above picture of the dog, we have to wonder, how does this Tibetan mastiff pass off as a lion in the first place? Are we close to the conclusion that no one in China knows what a lion looks like? Maker’s breath, this is hilarious.

It didn’t end there, unfortunately. When other parts of the zoo were inspected, it came to visitors attention that the snake cage contained two large rats while the leopard cage contained foxes, for crying out loud.

Furthermore, zoo officials claim they do have a lion, but for some reason, the animal was moved away to a breeding facility temporarily. You see, that’s the excuse ladies and gentlemen, that’s the excuse for putting a Tibetan mastiff in a lion cage. At the end of the day though, it worked for a while so hats off to zoo officials, they are China’s biggest trolls.

Patrons are now attempting to reclaim their $2.45 admission fee after being duped. If nothing comes of it, visitors only have themselves to blame. I mean, everyone should know what a lion looks like. Maybe not a tiger, but a lion? Come on, I bet there are thousands of bootleg Lion King DVDs in China. You should damn well know what a lion looks like!

On the bright side, at least the zoo visitors have an interesting story to tell their grandchildren.

[via People’s Daily, image via Wikemedia Commons]