Zoo disguises dog as lion, cover blown when dog barks

BEIJING:  A Chinese zoo ridiculed for disguising a dog as a lion has shut down temporarily for "rectification", media reported Friday.

The zoo's supposed "African lion" was exposed as a fraud when the dog used as a substitute -- a Tibetan Mastiff -- started barking, the state-run Beijing Youth Daily had reported earlier.

The zoo, in central China's Henan province, has "altered several misnamed animal signs," the Beijing Times reported, adding that zoo officials have issued a public apology and "closed for rectification".

Three other species housed incorrectly in the zoo reportedly included: two coypu rodents in a snake's cage, a white fox in a leopard's den, and another dog in a wolf pen.

A photograph of a dog sitting in a cage in front of a sign reading "African lion" drew ridicule on Chinese social media services, with one user saying: "They should at least use a husky to pretend to be a wolf".

The Tibetan Mastiff is a large and hairy dog breed.

Authorities in the park in the city of Luohe, where the zoo was located, said that the facility had been contracted out to a private zookeeper since 1998.

Source: AFP

UM dalam kedudukan 500 terbaik dunia

KUALA LUMPUR:  Universiti Malaya (UM) menjadi satu-satunya universiti tempatan yang  tersenarai dalam kedudukan lima ratus universiti terbaik di dunia. Ia berdasarkan laporan Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

UM disenaraikan antara empat ratus hingga lima ratus dalam senarai yang baru dikeluarkan.

Tiada universiti dari Asia yang berjaya menembusi kedudukan dua puluh teratas setelah kedudukan Universiti Tokyo  diambil alih oleh Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich di tangga ke dua puluh.

Senarai tersebut juga menyaksikan Jepun menjadi satu-satunya negara di Asia yang berjaya berada di kelompok seratus terbaik.

Kedudukan sepuluh terbaik tidak menyaksikan banyak perubahan kedudukan dengan Universiti Harvard mengungguli carta  dan Universiti Cambridge di tempat kelima, manakala Universiti Oxford di tempat ke sepuluh. - Astro Awani