Location: Wuhan Zoo, Hubei

Date: 2 May 2011

Panda: Hope

Details:

Hope, a five year-old male panda in Wuhan Zoo, chased and killed a peacock that had strayed into its enclosure. Although peacocks often entered the panda area from their neighbouring enclosure, this is the first time that one had been killed. The Telegraph reported:

Location: San Diego Zoo, San Diego

Date: 13 March 2011

Panda: Bai Yun (White Cloud)

Details:

Nineteen year-old female panda Bai Yun apparently pushed her way through an unlocked gate meant to separate her from her keepers. When the keepers attempted to herd her back through the gate, Bai Yun attacked one of them.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “the keeper was clawed, bitten and “severely” injured”. Although it was originally reported that the keeper had been bitten on the arm, later reports indicate that it was the keeper’s leg that had been bitten.

The Times also notes:

Despite their cuddly appearance, pandas, in the wild or in captivity, are known for quick changes of temperament that can lead to aggressiveness, zoo officials said.

Meanwhile, Tai Shan’s mother Mei Xian has been artificially inseminated. Tai Shan was the product of a successful artificial insemination and was born at the National Zoo.

A few Australian papers seem to have picked this up (like The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) and it has made its way onto a few blogs. No other newspapers seem to have reported it, so it may have been an isolated Australian problem.

Poor Gu Gu. Even when he hasn’t attacked anyone for months, he can’t keep the media from ruining his good name…

What is it about Gu Gu that makes him so vicious? Well, nothing other than being a normal adult male bear, actually. The real question have so many people been able to invade his territory and open themselves up to attack?

The answer may be revealed in this video clip from CNN. As you can see in the video, all that prevents zoo visitors from entering the panda enclosure is a steel railing. Once they climb over the railing, however, there is a fairly deep pit which prevents them (and the pandas) from climbing back out.

It’s great that zoo visitors have an open and unobstructed view of the pandas, but maybe after three attacks it’s time to think about preventing visitors from so easily entering the panda area?

Location: Wolong Panda Reserve in Sichuan Province

Date: October 2006

Panda: unknown cub

Details:

An American tourist at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center had part of her thumb bitten off while feeding a panda cub. Foreign tourists pay to be a volunteer at the Center, which usually includes feeding and interacting with pandas. The AP reports:

She was wearing gloves and feeding the panda bamboo on Tuesday morning when “suddenly, the panda bit into her thumb,” Xinhua said.

“When she cried out, the cub became excited and gripped more tightly,” it said. “Lisa finally managed to wrench herself free.”

About 20 percent of the thumb had been bitten off, Xinhua said.

Earlier post about an attack at the Wolong Reserve

Link: Panda cub bites hand that feeds it:
American woman loses part of thumb at feeding center in southwest China

Location: Animal Protection Institute (near Xian, China)

Date: 6 November 2008

Panda: unknown panda

Details:

A 15 year old Australian girl received injuries to her hand when she attempted to pet a panda during a visit to a “panda santuary” near Xian, China. Not much of a santuary for the pandas if they let a group of visiting school kids into their enclosure, is it?

In an article entitled “Once bitten … Brighton East teen panda-shy after attack”, the Bayside Leader reports that Georgia Treu required more than 45 stitches to her left hand.

The Herald Sun describes the incident:

At the time, St Leonard’s College principal Dr Roger Hayward said the incident happened after a guide briefly left the students alone in an enclosure.

The Year 9 students were in the cage for feeding and cleaning.

“An English speaking guide took a small group into an enclosure, the guide called the panda over, and the panda was still on the other side of the cage.

“That staff member then went off to get something, and the panda started licking the girls’ hand and it then bit her,” Dr Hayward said.

Link: BBC report

Location: Beijing Zoo

Date: 8 January 2009

Panda: Gu Gu

Details:

You might remember Gu Gu from the earlier reports when he bit a drunken intruder’s legs, and when he “tore chunks of flesh” off the legs of a 15 year old boy. Well, those events weren’t enough to stop someone else from entering Gu Gu’s enclosure. With similar results. A man climbed into the enclosure to “to retrieve a toy dropped by his 5-year-old son”. The AP reports:

Gu Gu, a 240-pound (110-kilogram) 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.

Fox News has a picture of the injured man. No word on whether zoo officials returned the toy.

Link:
Panda bites third tourist in 2 years at Beijing zoo; jaws had to be pried open with tools

Location: National Zoo, Washington DC

Date: 18 March 2008

Panda: Tai Shan (Peaceful Mountain)

Details:

A keeper was bitten by Tai Shan while placing food in the panda enclosure’s yard area. The keeper was unaware that the panda had re-entered the yard and was attacked from behind. The Washington Post notes:

Keepers no longer enter Tai Shan’s yard for safety reasons, according to Gibbons, which has been the case since the cub weighed 70 pounds; now two-and-a-half years old, he weighs 170 pounds.

USA Today reported:

The keeper took 2-year-old Tai Shan indoors before placing food in his yard, Gibbons said in a statement. The panda re-entered the yard and approached the keeper from behind, playfully grabbing her with his mouth, Gibbons said. Pandas have sharp teeth, used for chewing bamboo.

Link: Panda cub injures zoo keeper

Location: Hangzhou Zoo

Date: October 2007

Panda: Cheng Cheng

Details:

Although the circumstances are unclear, the gist of it seems to be that Cheng Cheng attacked a security guard while attempting to, or possibly succeeding at, escaping from its enclosure. As the Shanghai Daily reports:

The guard surnamed Wang was bit on the left leg and ankle by a panda named Cheng Cheng and doctors said he would need at least three months of rest before walking again, the report said.

Link: Panda bites guard at Hangzhou Zoo