Tuesday, October 30, 2007

There's a fence for a reason



The public seems to want to get up close and personal with one particular 8 year-old 240 pound Chinese resident these days. Last Monday October 22 2007 was the second time in about a year that it has happened.

Gu Gu, a male panda at the Bejing zoo, was bitten by a drunken tourist. The man jumped the fence surrounding the pandas and tried to hug him but Gu Gu bit the man instead. Evidently being drunk even in China leads to a slightly off kilter sense of what is a correct response as the man then bit Gu Gu on the back.

On Monday, Li Xitao, 15, jumped the 4 and a half foot fence surrounding the panda exercise area while they were being fed and became dessert it seems for Gu Gu. The reports state that he entered the panda area out of curiosity but he left in an ambulence after the three minute attack. The emergency personal stated that he had been bitten so badly that the bones in his legs were showing. Li was taken to Bejing Children's Hospital where his condition was not released and police haven't stated if he will be charged in the incident.

Pandas are generally viewed as being a cute bear can be violent when provoked or startled and no reports yet state whether the fact that the bears were being fed may have added to the attack. The zoo stated that they cannot use higher fences without blocking the view of the bears but they are considering other measures to prevent future attacks both by and of the bears. They added that zoo visitors should act properly when visiting the zoo and love the animals.

As cute and cuddley as a panda bear may look on the toy store shelf........ at 240 pounds, they aren't so cuddley. Evidently, reports that Gu Gu was snacking on bamboo later in the afternoon may mean that he had a bit of clothing stuck between his fangs.

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