Child falls into Giant Panda enclosure

On 9 February, 2019, a young girl fell in the Giant Panda enclosure at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. According to a report from the Chengdu Business Daily News, she was up on top of the wall and was knocked over by a tourist taking pictures. The child fell into the trench below. A nearby panda moved to the edge of the trench, right near the girl.

A security guard first attempted to pull the child out by lowering a piece of bamboo, but the girl was not strong enough to pull herself up. As this rescue attempt was happening, another panda joined the first one.

The security guard eventually squeezed himself through a gap in the fence and pulled the child out by her arm. By this time, three pandas had gathered. This was a near escape.

December 2016, China

Country: China

Location: Wolong National Nature Reserve

Date: 17 December 2016

Panda: Ximei

Details:

A worker at China’s Wolong National Nature Reserve entered an enclosure to check on a panda cub. The cub’s mother, 16 year-old Ximei, attacked the worker. Wei Hua had been working with giant pandas since 2013, so was aware of the dangers. According to the GB Times:

Wei’s hamstrings, as well as the carpal bones in both of his hands were broken, and nearly a third of his left palm was bitten off.

Xinhua has pictures of the mother and her cub. The one of Wei in recovery is not recommended for sensitive readers.

 

 

 

October 2016, China

Country: China

Location: Nanchang Zoo, Jiangxi province

Date: 30 October 2016

Panda: Mei Ling

Details:

An unidentified young man entered the giant panda enclosure at Nanchang Zoo. According to the South China Morning Post, he “jumped over a 1.3-metre-high perimeter fence, then leapt across a three-metre-deep ditch to reach the playground used by giant pandas”.

Mei Ling was alone in the enclosure and was asleep when the man entered. When he awoke, Mei Ling grabbed the man by his leg and wrestled him to the ground. The panda appeared to be merely playing with the intruder, who managed to escape after a few minutes. Even so, witnesses reported that “his trousers had been badly ripped by the animals teeth and claws”. The International Business Times has video of the incident.

 

March 2014, China

Country: China

Location: near Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve

Date: 1 March 2014

Panda: wild panda

Details:

70 year-old Guan Quanzhi had his right leg seriously injured by a wild panda. The panda was being chased by more than 200 villagers and wildlife officials. When the frightened panda encountered Guan picking tea leaves on his farm, it bit his right leg and did not let go until someone covered the panda’s head with a coat. The panda then escaped.

Gaun’s injuries included leg and ankle fractures, as well as severed arteries. He required 7 hours of surgery and a 57 day hospital stay. (That link contains an image of the injuries after surgery and skin grafts, but the extent of the damage is clearly visible. Sensitive readers are warned that the image may be upsetting.) Guan’s son was quoted on China.org.cn as saying,

The doctor said my father was lucky enough to avoid an amputation, but he may be incapable of working in the future.

A Tale of Two Ling Lings

Each of the last two posts here documented an attack on a human by a giant panda named Ling Ling. But although both pandas were named Ling Ling, it is important to note that they are actually two separate pandas.

The Ling Ling involved in the 1984 incident is a female giant panda. She and her male partner Hsing Hsing were captured in China in 1971. In 1972, following Nixon’s visit to China, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing were given to the US. Although they had five cubs, none survived for long after birth. Ling Ling died in 1992. Hsing Hsing died in 1999.

The Ling Ling involved in the 1995 incident is a male giant panda. He appears to be the same Ling Ling who was part of a pair of pandas who were exhibited in the US in 1987/88. That Ling Ling was born in the Beijing Zoo in September 1985. China exchanged Ling Ling for another panda from the Ueno Zoo in Japan. Ling Ling died in 2008 at the Ueno Zoo.