Caged giant panda attacks keeper

Press, 26 December 1984, Page 6

Caged giant panda attacks keeper

NZPA-AP Washington Ling-Ling, a 111 kg giant panda whose cuddly appearance belies an aggressive streak, is in a private cage after mauling one of her keepers at the National Zoo. A zoo spokesman, Dr Robert Hoage, said that Edwin Jacobs, aged 52, the handler, was admitted to hospital on Monday with cuts and puncture wounds in his back and legs. He was described as being in good condition after admission

and was released yesterday. Mr Jacobs said that he was attacked when his back was turned on the panda. He said that he went to check on Ling-Ling about 1 p.m. and saw her sleeping. He said he bent to pick up a stray piece of bamboo and throw it from the cage, then turned to leave. In seconds Ling-Ling was on him. She first struck him with a paw, then grabbed his right leg with her mouth. “Then I hollered for help and she was grabbing me

and trying to bite me,” Mr Jacobs said. Dr Hoage said that the incident was under investigation. After the attack, LingLing appeared to be totally normal, but she was put in a private cage. Ling-Ling and her male counterpart, Hsing-Hsing, were gifts to the United States by China in 1972 after relations between the two countries warmed enough to end more than two decades of hostility.