The wildlife park in Anqiu, China went viral after it took to extreme measures to give visitors the impression it had exotic animals − only for it to be exposed online
Visitors to a Chinese zoo were baffled when they found a donkey painted as a zebra(Image: Jam Press)
Visitors to a Chinese zoo were floored when they discovered that a donkey had been painted to look like a zebra. The bizarre scenes were filmed at a wildlife park in Anqiu, in the Shandong province of China, and have recently gone viral on Chinese social media.
The footage shows the animal in a forlorn enclosure, its coat marked with crude black stripes in a half-hearted attempt to make it resemble a different species.
Initially, some visitors may have believed the animal was indeed a zebra thanks to the stripes that were on its skin. However, its long, pointed ears − as well as the fact it was surrounded by other donkeys − quickly gave the game away.
After being heavily mocked online, staff at the Qingyun Mountain Folk Custom Amusement Park offered a baffling explanation. They explained that the donkey had only been dressing up as a zebra, adding the park never clarified it was a zebra in the first place.
The park said in their bizarre statement addressing the accusations: “We’re doing cosplay. We never said it was a zebra!
“We didn’t even put up a sign saying it was a zebra! It’s just a joke, an abstract kind of thing meant to entertain visitors.” Staff also claimed they had carried out similar “makeovers” on several dogs in an effort to amuse visitors.
It is not the first time a Chinese zoo has raised eyebrows with a gimmick of this kind, as reported by Creatorzine. Taizhou Zoo unveiled two dogs dressed as pandas on 1 May 2024, after it did not have any actual pandas for visitors to see.
The Chow Chows’ fur was trimmed short before black-and-white dye was applied to their faces and bodies. Social media users accused the zoo of animal cruelty, but a zoo spokesperson responded: “People also dye their hair. Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur.”
Last year, another debacle also went viral on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, after another animal park was found to be painting donkeys to look like zebras. The animal, standing next to an employee at the Zibo City amusement park − also in Shandong province − was picked up by media across the world.
In a statement trying to combat the media, a staff member at the park had told a local tabloid: “The owner did it just for fun.” Staff at the site also insisted there was a sign in the donkey enclosure that pointed out the animal was not a zebra at all.
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