Man, panda trade bites
2006-09-20 13:00
Beijing - A drunken Chinese migrant worker who was bitten by a panda at the Beijing Zoo when he jumped into an enclosure to hug it, retaliated by chomping down on the animal's back, state media said on Wednesday.
Zhang Xinyan, from the central province of Henan, had drunk four jugs of beer at a restaurant near the zoo before visiting the animal, Gu Gu, on Tuesday, the Beijing Morning Post said.
"He felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand," and jumped into the enclosure, the newspaper said.
The panda, who was asleep, was startled and bit Zhang, 35, in the right leg, it said. Zhang got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued, the paper said.
"I bit the fellow in the back," Zhang was quoted as saying in the newspaper. "Its skin was quite thick."
Other tourists yelled for a zookeeper, who soon got the panda under control by spraying it with water, reports said. Zhang was hospitalised.
Newspaper photographs showed Zhang lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages and a seam of stitches running down his leg.
The Beijing Youth Daily quoted Zhang as saying that he had seen pandas on television and "they seemed to get along well with people".
"No one ever said they would bite people," Zhang said. "I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer. I don't remember much."
Ye Mingxia, a spokesperson for the Beijing Zoo, confirmed the incident happened but would not give any details. She said Gu Gu was "healthy".
"We're not considering punishing him now," Ye said. "He's suffered quite a bit of shock."
- AP