A Tibetan mastiff is housed in an African lion enclosure at People’s Park Zoo in the city of Luohe, Central China's Henan Province on August 12. Photo: Orient Today

Visitors at a Henan Province zoo expressed outrage after discovering exhibits claiming to house exotic specimens instead kept Tibetan mastiff and other more common animals.

A park visitor surnamed Liu noticed something wasn’t right at People’s Park Zoo in the city of Luohe last week when her 6-year-old son pointed out that the African lion they had paid to see had begun barking.

Upon closer inspection she discovered the animal was in fact a Tibetan mastiff, the Orient Today reported on August 14.

"I feel the zoo tricked me with putting a dog in a lion exhibit,” Liu said.

An unnamed zoo employee told the paper that the park does have an African lion, which has temporarily been transported to a breeding facility.

The report failed to address why a fully-manned mastiff was being kept in the lion exhibit.

At least three other kinds of animals were found housed in incorrectly-named exhibits: two rodents in a display labeled ‘snakes’, a fox-like mammal in an enclosure for leopards and another dog in a wolf pen, said the report.

The paper also quoted an unnamed official who accuses the zoo of illegally charging visitors and operating without required licenses from the local government.

Yu Hua, head of the People’s Park, said he will push the zoo to correct the situation as soon as possible.

Two rodents are housed in anenclosure labelled 'snakes' at People’s Park Zoo in the city of Luohe, Central China's Henan Province on August 12. Photo: Orient Today

A fox-like mammal is housed in an enclosure for leopards at People’s Park Zoo in the city of Luohe, Central China's Henan Province on August 12. Photo: Orient Today