Zoo with fake lion closes August 17, 2013 - 12:22AM Bark worse than his bite: a Tibetan mastiff looks out from a cage near a sign which reads 'African lion' in Luohe zoo in Luohe in central China's Henan province. A Chinese zoo ridiculed for disguising a dog as a lion has shut down temporarily for "rectification." 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 on Friday, adding that zoo officials have issued a public apology and "closed for rectification." Not a lion: A Tibetan mastiff dog. 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. Barking lion: a Tibetan mastiff dog, like the one used by a zoo in China. Authorities in the park in the city of Luohe, where the zoo is located, said the facility had been contracted out to a private zookeeper since 1998.