Panda to be flown to hometown after zoo’s negligence
Netizens are lashing out at a zoo in Wuhan after they found a giant panda had been mistreated by a zookeeper.
A video posted by a Weibo user online shows the panda Weiwei, 13, eating an apple surrounded by ants. Online photos show Weiwei’s palms, genitals and nose devoid of hair.
A zookeeper was seen smoking and feeding Weiwei without washing his hands in the video. The zookeeper was even found washing his hair in the room beside the panda’s hutch, netizens said.
Responding to the public outcry, the Wuhan Zoo said Tuesday on Sina Weibo that the zookeeper has been suspended.
The zoo announced it will return the panda to the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Sichuan Province. Weiwei was transferred to the Wuhan Zoo in 2008 following the Sichuan earthquake.
“The giant panda Weiwei was placed in a transport cage this morning, which is quite small. It will be flown to Sichuan as soon as today if he adapts well to the cage,” a Wuhan Zoo staffer told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The zoo later said on Sina Weibo that Weiwei was departed to Wuhan’s Tianhe airport at 2 pm. The flight was in the evening.
Zoo staffers must receive at least a three-month training before the zoo is allowed to raise a giant panda in their enclosure. It depends on the zoo how to treat the panda once they arrive, Zhao Songsheng, the manager of Eudemonia Banking, a Chengdu-based NGO specializing in giant panda protection, told the Global Times.
The China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda has set a standard for breeding pandas, such as how to feed and weigh them, State Forestry and Grassland Administration said on Wednesday.
“The zoo cannot only think about attracting tourists and profiting from the giant panda, regardless of their health,” Zhao said. The giant panda, which is loved throughout the world, is always under the spotlight. Fans would always blame the zoo if the panda is being abused, Zhao added.
Pandas are considered a national treasure in China. It is listed on China’s first-grade state protection as there are fewer than 3,000 left in the wild.