Beijing — A panda at the Beijing zoo bit his third tourist in two years — and this time, his jaws had to be forced open to free the man, who had jumped in to retrieve his son’s toy.
Gu Gu, a 240-pound panda, mauled the man’s legs and refused to let go until zookeepers pried his jaws open with tools, said a zoo spokeswoman surnamed Gong. She would not give her full name, as is common among Chinese officials.
Gu Gu first made news in 2007 when he bit a drunken tourist who jumped into his pen and tried to hug him. The tourist retaliated by biting the panda in the back.
In October, Gu Gu viciously bit a teenager who climbed into his exercise area out of curiosity.
The Beijing News said the latest victim, Zhang Jiao of central Anhui province, suffered damage to major ligaments and is recovering from surgery.
The newspaper quoted tourists as saying Zhang appeared to first look around to see if pandas were nearby before jumping in to get his 5-year-old son’s toy.
Pandas, a national symbol of China and often seen as being cute and cuddly, can be violent when provoked or startled.
Comments
Pywacket 4 years, 4 months ago
It's comforting to know that the learning curve in China is sometimes as tough as it is here.
denak 4 years, 4 months ago
I would really hate to read that this panda was put down because of these idiot's actions.Did the third man ever stop to think that perhaps he should ask someone at the zoo to get the toy???Would that have been too much to ask?There are times when an animal needs to be put down because it really is dangerous but an animal shouldn't be killed just because of the idiotic actions of a bunch of stupid people. The panda was just doing what pandas do.Maybe we should put down these people instead.Dena
jaywalker 4 years, 4 months ago
Darwin at work. Panda food.Wake up, denak. Where the hell did you get the idea they were gonna put the bear down? In fact, I've never heard of an animal in a zoo being put down because of an attack. Not to mention pandas are rare.
coolmom 4 years, 4 months ago
they need to make it so it is not so easy for people to get in there. i do agree that the learning curve here is alarming. they should put a sign up saying something like the panda likes to meet tourists in person please sign waiver.
missmia 4 years, 4 months ago
idiots get what's coming to themi'm sorry but if my kid threw his toy into a bear pen, say goodbye to the toy
jaywalker 4 years, 4 months ago
Seriously, Darwin at work. The weak and stupid (should)get culled from the herd. Unfortunately, these three morons survived which raises the likelihood that they'll continue that particular bloodline.
Confrontation 4 years, 4 months ago
You know the economy is bad when you'd risk your life to get a stupid toy. Actually, I think having morons like this is a great way to keep the panda happy.
gr 4 years, 4 months ago
"Getting eaten by a bear has always been a big fear of mine."Bear.Not bear.Now bear.
Pywacket 4 years, 4 months ago
Another thing that's irritating about this is that the kid was 5 years old! If Daddy is still preventing him from suffering the consequences of his errors, he will never learn. If that were my kid, I'd welcome the chance to say, "Tough luck! How many times have I told you to..." (a) leave your toys in the car, (b) not throw your toys or be careless with them, or (c) whatever other Standard Parent Rant seemed appropriate.There are times when it's gratifying to see the tears run down those little faces as a hard lesson is being learned. (Ha--yeah, I'm a mean mom!) Instead, this guy taught his kid that rules and barriers are there to be ignored, that Daddy will fix whatever Jr screws up, and that--oops--Daddy is an idiot, who could very well have left Jr fatherless for a stupid toy.Maybe both father & son learned a good lesson from this, and the kid will grow up to be a little less ignorant than his father. Wonder where the mother was? She probably already drowned, trying to fish another of this kid's toys from the sea when he threw it off a pier.
jonas_opines 4 years, 4 months ago
That's it! Consider "Slap a panda" to be officially added to my bucket list. /last item on the list, I think. I'll wait until I'm old and decrepit anyway
jengaman 4 years, 4 months ago
Did the kid get the toy? How could they leave that part out of the story? The suspense is killing me!
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