Chinese man raises two puppies which turn out to be endangered black bears

The man only realised his error after seeing leaflets, locally, with information on the endangered beasts

(RAYMOND ROIG/AFP/Getty Images)

A man who spent two years raising two puppies was left stunned when he realised they were, in fact, endangered Asian black bears – and not dogs.

Wang Kayui, a banana farmer from the Yunnan Province in China, bought the two ‘puppies’ in Vietnam in 2013 and enjoyed grooming and bathing them on a daily basis, according to People’s Daily Online.

Mr Kayui then described how the animals started behaving ‘strangely’; they were killing his pet chickens, had an insatiable appetite for food and grew to around 100lbs each.

His error was finally confirmed when he spotted leaflets which had been issued by the local public security bureau on endangered wild animals – when he immediately recognised he had been illegally keeping the Category 2 protected endangered animals by accident.

After contacting the bureau, the bears – one male and one female – were collected and are currently said to be in a ‘good condition’, weighing-in at around 50kg each.

The rescue centre they are being looked-after in is currently looking for other suitable living arrangements for the pair, according to Chinese media reports.

Asian black bears are considered to be ‘vulnerable’ by animal conservationists and their numbers have been depleting over the years because of deforestation and hunting.