A zoo has been criticised online after admitting to painting donkeys with black and white stripes to make them look like donkeys – and it isn’t the first time this has happened in China
Zoo in China uses donkeys painted as zebras
A zoo has been blasted after it painted donkeys to look like zebras in an attempt to bring in the crowds.
Zibo City amusement park in China’s Shandong province was ridiculed after visitors immediately spotted the “zebras” had their stripes painted on. The zoo was forced to admit they were in fact donkeys after images of the painted creatures went viral on social media in China.
Online comments slammed the zoo for mistreating the animals and trying to fleece visitors with the promise of seeing zebras. The shoddy paint job was branded “misleading and unethical” by one commenter while another called the move “unfair to the animals and the visitors”.
However staff at the park tried to defend the daubed donkeys as a “marketing strategy” designed to boost visitors to the attraction. They said staff had used a non-toxic dye and the animals had come to no harm. But this was not enough for animal rights activists who said they had concerns for the welfare of the painted donkeys, arguing that it would have caused stress and health issues.
The case has sparked a fierce debate about the ethics of painting or altering living creatures for people’s amusement, with many calling for tighter controls to stop similar incidents occurring in future. Several Chinese zoos have made headlines previously for painting animals to resemble more exotic creatures in an attempt to raise publicity and sell tickets. The Taizhou Zoo came to international attention last year after staff there painted dogs to look like pandas in a bid to increase footfall.
Tickets for the park featured an image of the painted dogs, claiming they were a “new species” as guests were asked to fork out £2.25 to see them during the Chinese Labour Day holiday. Snaps taken by visitors showed the dogs with black circles painted around their eyes and ears to resemble endangered panda bears – but they were still very obviously chow chow pups.
Guests began to demand their money back after the “pandas” were seen barking and panting in their enclosure. Meanwhile, more footage showed similar antics at a Chinese zoo where staff painted dogs to resemble tigers. The pooches were dyed bright orange with black stripes in an attempt to scam visitors with snaps from the stunt going viral online at the time.
