Drunken migrant worker jumped in cage, was bitten after petting bear Reuters
Updated: 11:40 a.m. ET Sept. 20, 2006
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.
‘No one ever said they would bite’ 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.”
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Originally posted by cfgb“We’re not considering punishing him now,” Ye said in a telephone interview. “He’s suffered quite a bit of shock.”
I love that other countries think like that. It's a very un-American (in a non-pejorative sense) way of thinking. Like if a guy was drunk and crashed his car, and they just went "Well, his car crashed. I think that's punishment enough."
Originally posted by Mr. BoffoI love that other countries think like that. It's a very un-American (in a non-pejorative sense) way of thinking. Like if a guy was drunk and crashed his car, and they just went "Well, his car crashed. I think that's punishment enough."
I thought that the "him" they weren't considering punishing referred to Gu Gu, the panda, as in they weren't going to punish the panda for attacking a human. I don't see anything in there about punishment for Zhang.
You believe me, don't you? Please believe what I just said...
Originally posted by cfgb“We’re not considering punishing him now,” Ye said in a telephone interview. “He’s suffered quite a bit of shock.”
I love that other countries think like that. It's a very un-American (in a non-pejorative sense) way of thinking. Like if a guy was drunk and crashed his car, and they just went "Well, his car crashed. I think that's punishment enough."
I was under the impression that they were talking about the bear.
My apologies. I'm having trouble understanding things today, I guess. When I first read “I bit the fellow in the back,” Zhang was quoted as saying in the newspaper. “Its skin was quite thick.”, I thought that they were quoting the panda somehow.
But on that same point, why would they even consider punishing the bear? If someone jumped into my cage while I was sleeping, I'd bite the crap out of him too!
I don't know what the law is in China (and I suspect the fact that the bear is both endangered and a national treasure would probably keep it out of trouble in any event), but in the US it is either Federal or a widespread state law that any animal that attacks and seriously injures a human being is supposed to be euthanized, regardless of the human's provoking of it. The rationale is that once an animal has attacked a human, it will be more prone to attack other humans in the future (the animal is intrinsically dangerous, or it's lost its fear of man, or whatever). It's pretty unfair, but I've seen it practiced a fair amount of times.