Gu Gu is a male Giant Panda

Giant Panda

The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...

 at the Beijing Zoo

Beijing Zoo

The Beijing Zoo is a zoological park in Beijing, China. Located in the Xicheng District, the zoo occupies an area of 89 hectares , including 5.6 hectares of lakes and ponds . It is one of the oldest zoos in China and has one of the largest animal collections in the country...

, born at the Wolong National Nature Reserve

Wolong National Nature Reserve

Wolong National Nature Reserve is a protected area located in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China. Established in 1963, the reserve covers an area of about 200,000 hectares in the Qionglai Mountains region. There are over 4,000 different species recorded in the reserve....

. He has received international attention for incidents in which he attacked zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

 visitors who trespassed into his enclosure.

First Incident

Gu Gu first came to fame in national and international news for an incident on September 19, 2006 in which he bit an inebriated Chinese man who jumped into his enclosure and tried to hug him. Arriving at the panda’s zoo habitat after downing four draught beers at a nearby restaurant, Zhang Xinyan, 35, felt a “sudden urge” to touch Gu Gu. Zhang, a migrant worker from the central Henan province who had traveled to the zoo "only to see the pandas", cleared the railing around the enclosure, managed to approach the panda undetected, and moved to hug him. When the shocked bear bit Mr. Zhang on both legs, he retaliated: "I bit the panda on its back but its fur was too thick," Mr Zhang stated. Apparently the drunken tourist had a slightly cuddlier image of pandas, complaining, "No one ever said they would bite people. I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer." Zoo officials sedated Gu Gu by spraying him with water. Mr. Zhang was hospitalized after the incident. The Zoo reported that besides a one and a half day loss of appetite, Gu Gu was unharmed.

Second Incident

A second incident occurred on Tuesday October 23, 2007, when 15 year old Li Xitao jumped the barrier and climbed into the panda exercise area where Gu Gu and another bear were being fed. He startled the 240-pound bear, who reacted by biting the boy on both legs, ripping chunks from both of them. Li, who was from Hebei province in northeast China and made a living in Beijing selling recyclables found on the street, had climbed into the panda enclosure out of "curiosity". According to medical officials, Li was so viciously attacked that his bones were showing, and chunks of flesh were left behind in the ambulance. The attack was reported by witnesses to have lasted 3 to 4 minutes. Li was taken to the Beijing Children's Hospital. A zoo official named Zhang was quoted as saying "We have to prepare against such behavior," and that visitors should "act properly when visiting and love the animals." Zoo officials were reportedly considering unspecified measures to prevent further incidents. However, Zhang stated that the barrier around the exercise area couldn't be any taller because it would block the view of the pandas.

Third Incident

On January 7, 2009, Gu Gu again made international headlines when he attacked a zoo visitor who climbed over the barrier into his pen to retrieve a toy dropped by his son. Zhang Jiao of central Anhui province, like the previous two trespassers, sustained bite injuries to his legs and was hospitalized, where he had surgery for damage to major ligaments. According to witnesses, Zhang appeared to first look around to see if pandas were nearby before jumping in to get his 5-year-old son's toy. Zoo workers were forced to use tools to pry Gu Gu's jaws apart when he wouldn't let go of Zhang's legs. The repeated incidents involving the panda resulted in CNN describing Gu Gu as "not your typical soft and cuddly giant panda."