Inside China’s fake zoos with barking pandas, bears in costumes & robot sharks – why do they KEEP getting away with it?

CHINA'S bizarre fake zoos have been exposed for being filled with barking pandas, human-like bears and robot sharks.

But despite visitors demanding their money back for the hoax animals and animal charities slamming the zoos for mistreatment, they keep getting away with it.

One zoo was recently shamed after visitors realised the "pandas" in the enclosures were actually painted dogs.

Images show pooches with black ears, limbs, and dark circles around their eyes - but their canine features are still very much apparent.

Guangyuan Park boasted visitors could see "rare and exotic animals" - and pointed visitors towards the pups.

The zoo claimed it had not misled people as it didn't declare the animals were pandas, explaining instead that they were, in reality, "panda dogs".

But when quizzed by local media, they admitted that they had dyed two Chow Chows, a type of spitz dog that is from northern China that is famous for its very thick coat.

The panda dogs gained traction on social media and soon went viral - but renowned animal charity Peta told The Sun how damaging this can be to the pups.

Peta UK's Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen said: "Dogs should be welcomed into a loving home, not dyed and put on display for people to gawp at."

Elisa also warned that keeping any animal in captivity and denying them the opportunity to "socialise and explore" can have devastating consequences - including neurotic behaviour in the animals, and even depression.

Dyeing dog hairalso "poses a risk of poisoning or allergic reaction" that could harm - or even kill - the canines.

In another viral zoo video that Peta condemns, an endangered sun bear is captured standing on his hind back legs and waving at visitors.

Social media users started to question whether the bear, named Angela, was actually a human dressed in a costume.

But despite Angela being confirmed as real, Peta said sun bears only stand upright "if they're being attacked or if they've been trained to do so."

It is likely that Angela was a circus bear and was trained to stand up before being dumped at the zoo, which happens to many sun bears.

The animal rights organisation carried out an investigation into Chinese circuses and found that bear cubs are "chained or tethered to a wall and forced to remain upright", sometimes for hours.

The cruel practice is used to train them to walk on their hind legs.

If they can't hold themselves up, they horrifically risk "strangling or hanging themselves".

Elisa added: "Once their days of performing in travelling circuses are over, many bears like Angela are dumped at shoddy zoos, where they’ll remain until the day they die."

While zoos in China continue to confine animals cruelly for entertainment, there could be a solution that the country is already behind.

Although visitors at an aquarium were left fuming when they spotted that the "whale shark" was actually a robot, Peta believes that these could be the zoos or aquariums that we see in the future.

Discussing the robot shark, Elisa said: "Mechanical marine exhibitions like this one are the future – and this park and other aquariums should replace all animals with mechanical ones.

"Doing so would enthral audiences and prevent animals from being held captive for entertainment."

What all hoax zoo animals have in common is that they often go viral on social media and attract many more visitors.

But Peta "condemns" videos of the "captive animals" that circulate online.

Elisa added that all viewers of such content should "consider the desperation behind the behaviour they see in a clip before sharing it".