Yesterday, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that 19-year-old panda Bai Yun bit one of her keepers when the giant panda "wandered out of its habitat [on Sunday]... Zoo officials said the safety barrier between the keeper area and the animal’s habitat at the zoo’s giant panda research station was not fully secured, allowing for the unexpected encounter."
Apparently the incident occurred when keepers were trying to get Bai Yun into her sleeping area. Zoo protocol calls for there be to a gate between pandas, who have powerful jaws, and keepers at all times. The zoo was not open at the time and the keeper, who was not named, was treated at a hospital: "Details about the worker’s condition were not released."
A San Diego Zoo spokeswoman told the LA Times, "Most bears have a volatile temperament, and can suddenly become aggressive. Bai Yun is a normal panda who was in an abnormal area." You can see Bai Yun in normal areas via the zoo's Pandacam. From our intense, casual observation, it seems like handling pandas is a lot easier when they are little—and this does not abate our panda envy.
