BEIJING - A drunken Chinese migrant worker jumped into a panda
enclosure at the Beijing Zoo, was bitten by the bear and retaliated
by chomping down on the animal's back, state media said
Wednesday.
Zhang Xinyan, from the central province of Henan, drank four jugs
of beer at a restaurant near the zoo before visiting Gu Gu the
panda 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, on 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 got the panda under
control by spraying it with water, reports said. Zhang was
hospitalized.
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 spokeswoman 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 in a telephone
interview. "He's suffered quite a bit of shock."
