"The Temu version of a panda"

Who doesn't love a panda?

They're darling. They're fluffy. They're playful. They're cuddly. We can't get enough of them.

And as Americans, we truly can't get enough of them. There are a couple of new arrivals at the San Diego Zoo - on loan from China -  but the ones in the Atlanta Zoo will be repatriated back to China later this year. 

But we really can't complain. We're lucky to have any, given that there may be fewer than 2,000 giant pandas in the world, 800 of them in zoos or breeding centers. And even some Chinese zoos don't have any of these black and white cuties. 

One of the bereft zoos is Shanwei. Not to be outdone by the competition, the innovators at Shanwei decided to transform two Chow Chow dogs into real fake pandas. 

Like pandas, Chow Chows are native to China. But that's about where the resemblance ends. Chows are orange. They have blue tongues. Unlike pandas, which are mostly placid and sweet, Chows are considered aggressive, mean. And they're dogs; not pandas.

It was canny zoo patrons who figured out that the Shanwie pandas they'd paid to see were painted dogs. 

According to the New York Post, visitors at the Shanwei Zoo realized they were being bamboozled when the so-called pandas began panting and barking. Pandas are native to China and an international symbol of the country.

In one visitor’s video, one of the “pandas” was visibly panting while resting on a rock in a fence, while another clip had a panda with a long tail strolling about.

“It’s a PANdog,” one viewer wrote, while someone else joked: “That’s the Temu version of a panda.”

“They were panting that’s why they are pandas,” a third noted. (Source: The Independent)

The zoo has admitted to the ruse; some patrons want their money back.

Shanwei isn't the first Chinese Zoo that's engaged in panda fakery. 

In May, NBC Newsreported that Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province had also painted Chow Chows. Zoo representatives initially claimed that the animals were a rare breed of “panda dogs,” before admitting that such animals don’t exist. At the time, zoo officials told Chinese state media they had advertised them as “panda dogs,” and did not intentionally mislead anyone.

Not that it's okay, but exhibiting "panda dogs" is definitely not as misleading as caling them pandas.  

When journalists asked them why they invented the idea of “panda dogs” to cover their tracks, a zoo representative explained, “There are no panda bears at the zoo, and we wanted to do this as a result.”

At least they were honest about it. But it's not just stupid and fraudulent to try to pass a dog off as a panda, or even a panda dog. It might be harmful. As one commenter noted on Weibo (Chinese Twitter). 

“Their fragile skin and naturally thick coats make them susceptible to skin diseases.”

Zoo officials countered that if it's okay for humans to dye their hair, it's okay for pandas.  Hmmmmm. 

Whether Chow-dying is harmful or not, there's no denying that pretending that a dog is a panda is about as stupid as it gets. What next? Paint some spots on a llama and label it a giraffe? Stripes on a horse and call it a zebra? Accept no substitutes! Let doggos be doggos!