A zoo allegedly swapped foxes for 'panda dogs' to please the public in China.

Staff at the zoo in Zibo, Shandong, reportedly evicted the foxes from their enclosure to replace them with a pooch disguised as a panda.

The decorations in the cage are all related to foxes, including cartoon foxes on the walls, and the signs indicating that a fox is supposed to be inside have not even been replaced.

Videos of the new panda dog inhabitant were posted on October 5, with many tourists initially believing it was a fox dyed to resemble a panda. Upon closer inspection, however, they realised it was simply a canine.

This follows the earlier discovery of panda dogs at a park in Guanguan that allows visitors to see 'rare and exotic animals'.

The zoo claimed it had not misled the public, as it did not assert that the animals were pandas, explaining instead that they were, in fact, 'panda dogs.'

However, when questioned by local media, they admitted to dyeing two Chow Chows, a type of spitz dog from northern China known for its thick coat.

Visitors noted that they became suspicious of how the panda panted, and when it barked, they realised it was certainly much more a dog than a panda.