On the afternoon of August 4 a shocking incident took place at
the Lanzhou Zoo located in Gansu Province. The habitually meek
inhabitant—a panda nicknamed Lan Zai—viciously attacked his breeder
at mealtime. The breeder received nearly a hundred stitches in the
hospital. Although he was out of danger, the zookeeper needs time
to recuperate.
The trouble-maker, Lan Zai, was artificially bred. His mother
previously lived in the Lanzhou Zoo; in 1997 she was transferred to
the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base in Sichuan Province. There, in 2002 she gave
birth to his elder brother and then to Lan Zai in 2004.
But when Lan Zai was delivered to the Lanzhou Zoo he couldn't
adjust his new surroundings. At first he simply refused to eat. His
condition improved when doting zoo workers bought just for him some
arrow bamboo shoots from Xi'an City.
Why did the cute-looking cub suddenly go on a rampage?
Zoo workers afterwards attributed the incident to the fact that
the breeder did not know the cub. The head of the breeding crew
recalled the attack details: "The cub suddenly seized the
inexperienced man's legs and dragged him towards the den as he was
preparing Lan Zai's meal. A struggle followed, resulting in serious
injuries to the breeder's four limbs."
The injured breeder, surnamed Zhang, is now being treated in the
San'aitang Hospital. He did not want to give an interview. "His
limbs were badly hurt upon arrival at the hospital; it took almost
two hours to sew him up. He is now out of danger but will be kept
in the hospital for further observation and treatment," a doctor
told the reporter of Lanzhou Morning Post.
(China.org.cn by He Shan, August 6, 2007)