Man pokes sleeping panda in a Chinese zoo, gets wrestled down
A man was caught on camera late last week breaking into the enclosure of a giant panda in southeastern China, poking the bear, and getting wrestled to the ground for his effort.
The state-run People’s Daily China newspaper reports the incident happened in Nanchang Zoo in southeast China’s Jiangxi province on Thursday, when the man, identified only as “Chen,” was on a tour with two female companions.
Chen somehow got into the enclosure of Meiling, a 265-pound male panda during the tour, reports Reuters.
In the video, Chen can be seen sneaking up on a sleeping Meiling and touching the sleeping bear on the head. The bear wakes up and then lunges at Chen’s leg, eventually wrestling the man to the ground.
The two tangled for about five minutes before Meiling rolled over on his back and Chen fled the enclosure.
The People’s Daily reports neither man nor bear were injured in the encounter.
Chen reportedly said afterwards he was trying to impress the girls he was accompanying on the tour by “teasing” the giant panda.