Zoo dog: Lion at a zoo in China turned out to be a Tibetan mastiff dog. No one suspected that the zoo dog lion was anything but a lion until it opened its mouth to roar and barked instead.

The zoo dog lion in the Luohe Zoo in Central China was a Tibetan mastiff in a cage where the sign read "African lion" Luohe zoo is in Luohe in China's Henan province. The zoo tried to pass off a Tibetan mastiff dog as a lion. The zoo dog lion looks like a lion but its vocalizations are closer to a bark than a roar.

China’s state media reported that the Tibetan mastiff dog has a bushy mane that makes it look like a lion. The Beijing Youth Daily said this wasn’t the only lyin’ that was going on at the zoo. The zoo also replaced a wolf in the wolf cage with a dog. They put foxes in the leopard cage and there are nutrias in the snake den.

The Beijing News reported that Luohe Zoo offiicals said that they weren’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes and issued a apology. The zoo is now closed to the public for "rectification." The Luohe Zoo will also reorganize the structure of its public-private management. Details were still being worked out.

Zoo manager Liu Suya denied that there was any deception going on. She told the Beijing Youth Daily that the lion was being lent out for breeding purposes and will be back it cage soon. The zoo dog actually belongs to one of the zookeepers’ friends who was away on a business trip and they were watching the zoo dog while he was away.

Liu further explained that the leopard was also being lent out for breeding. She explained that the zoo was giving the snake and the wolf shelter from the summer heat. Zookeepers put the substitute animals in the cage because an empty cage would have "looked bad."

Liu said "If visitors require an explanation, we'd be happy to give it to them."