Chinese panda bites off part of US tourist's thumb

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday October 18, 2006

Beijing- A giant panda cub bit off part of an American woman's thumb during feeding at a nature reserve in south-weastern China's Sichuan province, state media said on Wednesday. The 50-year-old woman was a short-stay volunteer at Sichuan's Wolong nature reserve but "neglected warnings and violated rules", when she fed bamboo to the panda on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency quoted a director of the reserve as saying.

After treating the woman, who was identified only by her first name, Lisa, a local hospital doctor told the agency she had lost 20 per cent of her right thumb.

Lisa was wearing gloves as she fed bamboo to the panda and she screamed and tried to break free when the animal bit her, said Zhang Hemin, the director of Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre.

But the cub "became excited and gripped more tightly", Zhang said, and the woman had to wrench herself free.

"Lisa neglected warnings and violated rules when she was feeding the panda," he was quoted as saying.

"Visitors are supposed to maintain a distance from the pandas and not touch them except in the company of professionals," the agency quoted panda breeding expert Li Guanghan as saying.

Wolong, the world's largest panda reserve, has bred 98 pandas in captivity and was listed as a World Heritage site in July this year.

Sixteen panda cubs were born at the reserve last year, the agency said.

The attack on the tourist is the second such incident in recent weeks.

Last month, a drunk man who wanted to hug a giant panda at Beijing Zoo was bitten on the leg after he climbed into an enclosure.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency