Panda bear wrestles brazen zoo intruder
A man who broke into a panda enclosure to impress his female friends was lucky to escape uninjured when the playful animal wrestled him to the ground.
Mei Ling was fast asleep in its Nanchang enclosure in China’s east Jiangxi province while the intruder could be seen smiling back at his friends before poking the unsuspecting animal.
That smile was quickly wiped from the young man’s face when the awoken panda latched onto his leg and pulled him to the ground for more than a minute.
Eventually freeing his leg, the intruder pushed the panda and ran from the enclosure, much to the disappointment of his new friend.
"The young man left the zoo right after he escaped and we could not get in touch with him," Deputy head of zoo management Kuang Huaming said.
"According to witnesses, his trousers were torn a little by the panda, but the man should be okay.”
After watching the footage, zoo authorities said that kind of roughhousing was common between breeders and pandas.
"On the other hand, we also arranged medical checks for the panda and told the breeders to closely observe its condition. So far the panda is fine," Huaming said.
While Pandas may look cute and friendly they are capable of inflicting serious damage with their sharp claws, teeth and brute strength when they feel threatened.
