Does giant pandas bite people?

Giant Panda Climbing Trees [Photo by Xu Jun]

“Di,di,di…" WeChat prompts a friend to send a message: “Does a giant panda bite?”

“Of course, it did. ” Recalling the incident where veterinarian Ma Qingyi was bitten by a giant panda while working at Louguantai Forest Farm in Shaanxi Province, I replied almost without thinking.

“Aren't giant pandas eating bamboo? Isn't bamboo a vegetarian? Giant pandas look soft and cute, how can they bite people? " a friend skeptically.

A friend's question should be a question in the hearts of many people. If I don't have the work experience at Louguantai Forest Farm, do I also have this question?

The image of giant pandas in people's minds is distinct in black and white, charming in innocence, soft and charity in nature, at peace with the world, and free with fate. People around the world are fascinated by giant pandas! How could such a giant panda bite people?

But giant pandas do bite people.

In 2003, there was a male giant panda named "Ding Ding" at the Shaanxi Qinling Giant Panda Research Center, reaching the age of marriage. But the artificially raised "Ding Ding" still foolishly "doesn't understand the charm", which has angered the staff of the research center. In order to enlighten it earlier, the veterinarian played videos and provided manual guidance, so that "Ding Ding" gradually understood the heavy responsibility of breeding offspring. On March 4, 2003, research center staff placed "Dingding" with a female giant panda, but "Dingding" had short-tempered and could not complete the “consummate mission”. Veterinarian, Ma Qingyi saw its tired appearance and prepared to separate it from the female giant panda for a while to preserve its strength. Unexpectedly, the angry "Ding Ding" became wild and disregarded Ma Qingyi's love for taking care of him for many years. He opened his mouth and bit Ma Qingyi's left arm without letting it go, causing him to be seriously injured, then he angrily returned to his enclosure. Ma Qingyi was hospitalized for six months as a result, leaving behind a regret that his arm could no longer be straightened.

Looking at the news, the seemingly gentle giant panda has actually had multiple records of injuring people. From 2003 to 2016, there were a total of four incidents of giant panda bites at the Beijing Zoo. The first time was in April 2004, a female college student illegally climbed over a fence and entered the Panda House, attempting to have a close contact photo with the giant panda. The giant panda "Gini" bit the college student's right foot and ankle. The second time was on September 19, 2006, when a male tourist jumped into the panda sports ground after drinking, and the frightened giant panda "Gu Gu" bit his right calf. The third time was on October 22, 2007, when a 12 year old scavenger boy jumped into the giant panda sports ground to touch the head of the giant panda "Gu Gu" and was bitten on both legs by "Gu Gu". The fourth time was when Zhang, a tourist from Henan, suddenly jumped into the panda playground of Beijing Zoo after drinking alcohol. The frightened giant panda "Gu Gu" bit his right calf.

So, seemingly gentle and cute pandas are also biting.

From a classification perspective, giant pandas belong to the carnivorous order of the mammalian class, and belong to the same large family as fierce beasts such as tigers, leopards, and wolves. The ancestors of giant pandas are truly carnivorous animals, with sharp and well-developed canine teeth, short intestines, and digestive physiological characteristics of carnivores. Giant pandas still retain these characteristics of their ancestors during their evolutionary process, but due to significant changes in their living environment, their diet and habits must adapt to the environment in order to survive. They gradually retreat into the deep bamboo forest, adapting to low nutrition and low digestion bamboo, and living an uncontested hermit life.

(Text by Zhao Xia )