China Zoo Admits to Painting Donkeys to Look Like Zebras

A zoo in China is under fire after it admitted to painting donkeys black and white to make them look like zebras. The Zibo City amusement park was in the spotlight when social media users noticed that the animals were unusual. The controversy soon escalated, with most people condemning the deceptive act.

Zoo Confirms Using Dye on Donkeys

Photos making the rounds online featured a zoo employee standing next to a donkey whose body had black and white stripes. To salvage the situation, the zoo came clean about using dye on the donkeys but assured that the paint was not toxic.

“The owner did it just for fun,” opined one of the workers. He also said that an existing local zoo had once raised eyebrows by having a dog in a panda disguise, and the incident was in line with such advertising gimmickry.

Public Criticism and Calls for Toughest Penalties

The exposure elicited blanket criticism, with most advocating for the implementation of tougher rules to avoid such deceitful actions.

“It’s unfair to the animals and the visitors,” one social media user said. Another user felt frustrated, “Why is China always the suspect?” A third said, “They did a pretty poor job too.”

Earlier Instances of Deception at Zoos

This is not the first attempt at such deception by a Chinese zoo. A zoo in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, did so last month when it marketed itself by painting two dogs orange and black to make them look like tigers.

In a live session on ByteDance-owned app Douyin, the zoo asserted, “Our tigers are huge and very fierce!” But as soon as the video went viral, users promptly recognized the animals as Chow Chow dogs painted tiger-like stripes.

The zoo eventually confessed to using dye, terming it “a gimmick” while affirming that the paint was not harmful to health.

Growing Concerns Over Animal Welfare

As more such incidents are reported, there are mounting concerns about ethics in zoos. Most social media users and animal activists are calling on the authorities to impose stricter regulations to avoid such bait-and-switch and potentially injurious practices in the future.