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Panda with attitude bites zoo trespasser

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-10 19:18

A panda at the Beijing zoo bit his third tourist in two years -- and this time, his jaws had to be forced open to free the man, who had jumped in to retrieve his son's toy.

Panda Gu Gu bites tourist Zhang Jiao's leg and refuses to let go as a zookeeper tries to separate the two at a zoo in Beijing. [ynet.com]

Gu Gu, a 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.

The nine-year-old Gu Gu first made news in 2007 when he bit a drunken tourist who jumped into his pen and tried to hug him. The tourist retaliated by biting the panda in the back.

In October, Gu Gu bit a teenager who climbed into his exercise area out of curiosity.

The Beijing News said the latest victim, Zhang Jiao of central Anhui province, suffered damage to major ligaments and is recovering from surgery.

The newspaper quoted tourists as saying Zhang appeared to first look around to see if pandas were nearby before jumping in to get his 5-year-old son's toy.

Pandas, often seen as being cute and cuddly, can be violent when provoked or startled.

Police were investigating, and it was not clear yet if Zhang would face criminal charges, Gong said.