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.

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."

Submitted on 09/20/2006

Submitted by: Dan Judge
Reference: On MyWay Sep 20, 7:41 AM

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
This one's a bit odd. I'm passing it on to Darwin because I can't decide! :-) On the one hand, I like this one. Not the usual "let's pet the lion" story. On the other hand, I'm not sure if pandas are potentially lethal, but they're large, so maybe this is an HM. What say, Darwin?

Sheryl said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
Man bites panda? Well, that's different. I'll go with James on this and throw it to the wolves ... err .. Darwin. (Sorry, Darwin, couldn't resist.)

Fitzroy said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
Drunken zoo enclosure misadventures do overlap with "too common" territory. Still, this was somehow exceptional, maybe because I don't recall any other panda stories. Certainly the contribution is appreciated.

Jorge said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat

Graham said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
This one's Black and White. Zhang proves that alcohol releases inherent stupidity. I wonder if Zhang realizes how close he came to a full-blown DA, causing such PANDAmonium in a zoo?

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