Tourists pose with 'panda cub' that turns out to be dyed puppy

A man is being investigated after charging tourists for photographs with his panda - which turned out to be a dyed chow chow puppy.

Locals had called police in Monastir, Sochi, Russia, out of concern for the animal.

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But when police arrived to investigate, they found the man was fooling people by dying his chow chow puppy with black marks.

According to the Metro, onlookers became concerned when they saw the man working the animal in 40C heat.

The Sun reports that Anton Lopatin, who works for the local prosecutor's office, said his team launched an investigation as soon as they heard reports and would continue to look into the man. They will press charges if he is found to have any illegally obtained wild animals, he added.