Chinese zoo red faced after 'roaring lion' turns out to be 'barking dog'!

A Chinese zoo, that replaced 'African lions' with a hairy dog, has been exposed as a fraud after the common species used as a substitute started barking.

According to the state-run Beijing Youth Daily, the zoo in the People's Park of Luohe, in the central province of Henan, was exposed after a customer, who wanted to show her son the different sounds animals made, pointed out that the animal in the cage labelled "African lion" was barking, News.com.au reported.

The dog was a Tibetan mastiff- an ancient breed of domestic dogs with long-hair.

It has been reported that three other species were housed incorrectly including two coypu rodents in a snake's cage, a white fox in a leopard's den, and another dog in a wolf pen.

Meanwhile, the chief of the park's animal department, Liu Suya, clarified to the paper that while the zoo does have a lion, it had been taken to a breeding facility and the dog - which belonged to an employee- had been temporarily housed in the zoo over safety concerns.