A ZOO has been accused of fattening up animals to turn them into viral stars like Moo Deng.
Pictures of a tubby leopard, an obese bear, and even a “turkey-sized” peacock have gone viral as the zoo has claimed it’s just “loose skin”.
Panzhihua Park Zoo in China has tried to put the rotund animals on a diet, but some of them have refused.
Fans are now accusing the zoo of intentionally trying to fatten them up to create their own sensation like cute hippo Moo Deng.
Pictures from the menagerie in Sichuan Province show the fat leopard rolling around on its back like a domestic cat and panting in the sun.
When the normally agile runner shot to fame on Chinese social media the zoo tried to put it on a diet.
Zoo keepers made its enclosure bigger and began feeding it only 1.75kgs of beef every day, with sometimes rabbit or chicken as a substitute.
But the 16-year-old feline has refused to slim down in its old age.
The zoo has now given up on its mission and claims the leopard just has “loose skin” and is perfectly healthy.
Liu Maojun, a member of the zoo staff, told Hongxing News they asked experts on how to help the leopard lose weight.
He said: “The conclusion was that it was unnecessary to bother the leopard with weight loss efforts and that it should just enjoy its old age in peace.”
Leopards can live up to 17 years in the wild and, in captivity, have been known to live up to 23 years.
Another fat animal at the zoo is a sun bear which was seen by visitors lying on its back in a food coma with crumbs spread across its chest.
The once fearsome killer now catches food in its mouth thrown at it by visitors.
Another clip of the beast shows it, again, lazily lying on its back but with its head positioned under a pipe drinking the water that drips down into its mouth.
One peacock is even so large that fans online have dubbed it as a “turkey”.
The ostriches and alpacas are also fat at the zoo, reports say.
The animals are fat because their enclosures are small and they don’t get any exercise, local media reported.
But the zoo claims the animals are healthy and that all the money earned from ticket prices is spent on feeding animals.
Ticket prices had increased 50 per cent because so many people were turning up – leading to the animals being fed more and more.
Fans of the animals have slammed the zoo online and accused it of intentionally fattening up them up after they were flooded with visitors.
One said: “I really give a big thumbs up to this zoo. The animals in other zoos are so skinny.”
Another posted: “I hope I can be reborn in Panzhihua Zoo in my next life.”
While a third wrote: “So cute, I want to touch it.”
Panzhihua Park Zoo is home to more than 130 animals of more than 20 species.
The fat animals come after another zoo in China was slammed for having ‘pandas’ which were just painted dogs.
Zoo visitors demanded their money back when two so-called pandas in an enclosure bizarrely began panting and barking.
Internet sensation Moo Deng is a pygmy hippopotamus at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand.
The tot shot to stardom when her zookeeper Atthapon Nundee posted videos of her online captivating people around the world.
There is even now a 24-hour live stream following the hippo’s life in her enclosure.
Moo Deng, which means “bouncy pork” in Thai, rose to viral fame as she is always bouncing around, slipping, biting the zookeepers’ knees and running around.
