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The Panda's Thumb
Wasn't there a book called The Panda's Thumb? By Stephen J. Gould if I recall. Something about evolution. Well, the Panda's Thumb took on new, rather tragic meaning this weekend when a panda (oh, he's soooo cute!) bit off the thumb of an American visitor who was feeding the animal at a reserve in southwest China. The woman, mysteriously named "Lisa" to protect her from the media and the writers of the Darwin Awards series, is 50-years and had registered in the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Sichuan province as a volunteer...so said the official Xinhua News Agency, which is not usually so forthcoming about tragic events, unless they involve Americans, of course. To give the woman some credit, she was apparently wearing gloves .But that was not enough to prevent the animal from deciding that her fingers looked a lot more tasty than the panda prison slop they normally get at mealtime.Filed under: Festivals and Events, Asia, China, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
coach Oct 24th 2006 2:29PM
Having visited the facility myself and having seen how the attendants repeatedly beat (I don't use the word lightly) the pandas with long bamboo poles to force them back into their cages--once the tourists have moved around the corner out of sight--I'm not too surprised.
Philip Tellis Oct 27th 2006 9:59AM
This is what Pandas normally eat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKRRdppqF8w (taken at Ocean Park, Hong Kong)
John Blake Nov 16th 2006 2:06AM
That's a crying shame. Pandas look so adorable and harmless. But let us not forget that it's a wild animal. It will do whatever it takes to protect itself. Maybe it felt threatened by the old lady. Usually when animals attack like that they've had some kind of traumatic experience. I hope not in the hands of its caretaker.