The rationale behind this whole exhibit at Taizhou Zoo in China is almost as absurd as the staggering visual of what are clearly some kind of canine meant to emulate pandas.
As reported by the New York Post, the zoo in question didn’t have any pandas. If you can dream it, you can do it, right? If you want a panda exhibit, but don’t have any pandas, just put one up anyway!
What’s that quote? Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Shout out Langston Hughes’ Dreams poem. I caved. Had to look it up. You’re welcome. Come for the fake panda exhibit. Stay for an allusion to a Harlem Renaissance pioneer.
That’s how I feel about this faux panda/real dog zoo attraction. Something approximating that sentiment. Ain’t no broken-winged bird in this zoo’s panda display. Perhaps a more applicable phrase to apply to this hilarious, stranger than fiction sitch is, “fake it till you make it.
The Post actually caught up with some folks from Taizhou Zoo to get the scoop on just what the hell they were thinking by staging this farce. A zoo spokesperson said, “People also dye their hair…Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur.”
Another rep explained, “There are no panda bears at the zoo and we wanted to do this as a result.”
That video really shows how obvious it is. And I could be totally wrong, but the video below and the timing of it would lead me to believe that the exit of two giant pandas from China, and the launch of this panda-dog exhibit on May 1 might be related.
If the panda-dog exhibit isn’t in response to this actual-panda export story, then that’s one very, very funny coincidence. These Chow Chow dogs are a breed that typically grows thicker fur, or at least that’s what an image search reveals to me. I gotta say, the dye job is somewhat convincing. If you were far enough away from the enclosure to take this exhibit in, maybe the Chow Chows could pass as pandas on first glance. Alas, added scrutiny, or a closer look at the scene, would most definitely reveal a couple of dogs wandering the space, probably not eating the bamboo at their disposal, and wondering in their own dog-brain sort of way what they’re even doing there.
Certainly one of the stranger stories you’re bound to see about any given zoo. I hope these dogs are returned to their rightful habitat. Sadly, man’s best friend doesn’t have many years on this Earth. No need to put them through the charade of pretending to be something they’re not, ye Taizhou Zoo zookeepers! Come on now!
