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)