Panda bites man. Man bites back.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
A Zoo visitor sank his teeth into a panda after having a drunken tussle with the animal, it was revealed on Wednesday.
Zhan Xinyan downed four jugs of beer at a restaurant near the zoo before setting off to see the pandas.
While watching one of the creatures, named Gu Gu, he felt a sudden urge to give it a big hug and jumped over the wall into the enclosure.
But the panda, which was nodding off, became startled and sank its teeth into Mr Zhang's right leg. The 35-year-old got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg.
The pair then brawled around the enclosure until Mr Zhang bared his own fangs. 'I bit the fellow in the back,' he said, adding: 'Its skin was quite thick.'
Other tourists yelled for a zookeeper, who soon got the six-year-old panda under control by spraying it with water. Mr Zhang, from the central province of Henan, was taken to hospital and needed stitches in his legs.
After he sobered up he said: 'I have seen pandas on television before and they seemed to get along so well with people.
'No one ever said they would bite. I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer. I don't remember much.'
Ye Mingxia, a spokeswoman for Beijing Zoo, confirmed the incident had happened but would not give any details.
'Gu Gu does not appear to be in any pain from Mr Zhang's bite,' she said. 'We are not considering punishing the panda. He has suffered quite a bit of shock.'
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