Video: Times Square Obama Afghanistan Protest Arrests
New Photo Brings Flying Overweight Debate Back
AA's "Fat Flier" Got Whole Row
State Sen. Savino Gets Noticed For Impassioned Gay Marriage Speech
Teen Gets Two Years For Killing Kitten
Today, a drunken man visiting the Beijing Zoo climbed into the panda habitat - and there was also "hugging" and biting. Reports say that 35 year old Zhang Xinyan had drunk "four draught beers" before heading to the zoo, where he was suddenly overcome with a desire to touch Gu Gu, a 6 year old male panda. Gu Gu freaked out and bit Zhang's, so then Zhang bit back. Zookeepers managed to get Gu Gu off Zhang by using a hose, and Zhang was taken to a hospital for stitches on his leg. The AP reports:
The Beijing Youth Daily quoted Zhang as saying that he had seen pandas on television and "they seemed to get along well with people."Yes, pandas look very friendly on TV, but that's because the pandas in question are little cubs or the people are trained zookeepers that the pandas know! Even though we harbor a dream of hugging a panda, we know that climbing over the fence at the zoo isn't the way to go about that. Plus, some drunk person trying to hug an animal is totally trouble - if Zhang tried that at a bar, he'd be punched in the face! At any rate, the Beijing Zoo just installed new signs that read "To avoid danger do not climb over the railing.""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 [Zhang] now," Ye said in a telephone interview. "He's suffered quite a bit of shock."
Last week, NBC had a news segment about the panda boom at the Chengdu research facility; if you watch this video, you'll see the panda cubs crawling all over reporter Mark Mullen. We saw the outtakes during Countdown, and Mullen clearly says that the panda cubs are biting him and that they refuse to let go of him. There are two famous incidents of polar bears killing New Yorkers: Back in 1982, a man climbed into the polar bear area at the Central Park Zoo, while an 11 year old, who entered the zoo on a dare, was mauled by polar bears at the Prospect Park Zoo in 1987.
Photograph of police observing Gu Gu at the Beijing Zoo by Greg Baker/AP
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
"We're not considering punishing him now," Ye said in a telephone interview. "He's suffered quite a bit of shock."
-------
Punishing Gu Gu?? Or punishing the man?
Zhang. And you know, if this happened in America, he would probably be suing GuGu - it would have to go to Kangaroo Court.
That's my question. Why in the hell would they be thinking of punishing the panda? He was doing what he was supposed to do. The drunken fool didn't belong in the enclosure. If this happened here, there'd be a lawsuit over the zoo not having "drunk-proof gates."
You know if this had happened in America that idiot would be suing the Zoo for not making it hard enough for him to get his drunk ass into the panda enclosure.
Hmmm...only four draught beers? If he totally pushed himself over the edge and drank a fifth, I wonder if he would have tried to "make love" to Gu Gu.
Four beers? Way to reinforce stereotypes, Mr. lightweight Chinese man.
That Prospect Park polar bear link is to purchase an article. Thanks!
Polar Bears and Pandas are quite different.