Visitors to a zoo in Hubei, China seemed to have gotten slightly less than what they paid for, when a trip to the wolf enclosure yielded zero wolves and one dog instead.

Much confusion

According to an article by South China Morning Post published on May 5, 2019, visitors at the Wuhan Mt Jiufeng Forest zoo the day before found only a dog of unknown breed inside the wolf enclosure, sparking much confusion.

This is despite the enclosure sporting a sign tacked to the fence, labeled with the Chinese word for 'wolf'.

In a video presumably taken by one of the zoo-goers and posted on Thepaper.cn, bewildered guests in the background could be heard laughing and exclaiming in surprise, saying: "There's no wolf."

One woman pointed out that the dog was a "stray dog", while one kid asked the true question: "Is this a dog?"

Passing off fakes as animals

There have been several cases in China where zoos try to pass off things as something they are not.

One zoo in Henan tried to substitute a Tibetan mastiff, a very large, shaggy breed of dog, as a lion.

Another zoo touted a live butterfly show, but visitors arrived to a display of plastic butterfly replicas on the ground instead.

While yet another zoo in Guangxi had inflatable pop-up penguins instead of the actual birds, and domestic livestock in place of wildlife.

A companion to a lonely wolf

You'll be pleased to know that this isn't the case this time.

To allay the concerns of numerous visitors and netizens, the zoo assured Thepaper.cn that they were not attempting to deceive visitors.

The mongrel in question was actually the wolf's companion, and said wolf simply happened to be resting indoors out of sight, when the video was taken.

You can see the wolf emerging from the shelter below, from older footage.

The male wolf was apparently unable to get along with the rest of the pack, often fighting with the others and getting hurt.

Keepers then decided to separate the wolf from the pack out of concern for his health, but the wolf grew lonely and "depressed". In a bid to provide the wolf with some company, the keepers introduced two puppies.

The wolf managed to bond with the second puppy, which has since grown up to be the dog visitors saw the other day.

Here's another photo of the buddy pair.

Quite heartwarming.

Not just man's best friend

This isn't the first time that dogs have been paired up with unlikely partners.

Not only are dogs great companions for humans, often trained for therapy, support and military services, they can be beneficial for wild animals too, as this incident clearly demonstrates.

Dogs have also been introduced to anxiety-riddled cheetahs, who are often agitated in captivity, according to the National Geographic.

The dogs are introduced as puppies to young baby cheetahs, and pair grow up together. The dogs boost the cats' confidence and act as companion and playmate.

The buddy system was first implemented in 2014 at the famous San Diego Zoo in the United States, and has successfully spread to zoos worldwide.

Top photo by Thepaper.cn and Pear Video