"Is Pubao Okay?"... Another Panda Abuse in China, Caretaker Hits with a Shovel

Scene of Panda Being Beaten with a Metal Shovel Captured
Research Center Issues Statement on "Efforts to Prevent Recurrence"

A zookeeper at a panda research center in China was found to have hit a panda.

Pup Bao, the first giant panda cub born in Korea between Ai Bao and Reo Bao.
[Image source=Everland]

On the 19th, China News Network reported that the Qinling Giant Panda Research Center in Shanxi Province, China, announced through its official social media account the previous day that "at around 4 p.m. on the 17th, zookeeper Li Mo seriously violated the 'Panda Breeding Safety Management Regulations' by hitting a panda with a metal shovel, causing a negative impact," and stated, "The research center deeply apologizes." The center added, "An examination of the panda revealed no external injuries," but also explained, "This incident exposed serious problems such as the research center's failure to strictly enforce panda breeding and management systems and inadequate supervision and management."

The center said, "We will learn a deep lesson and take serious corrective actions," adding, "From the 20th to the 22nd of this month, the facility will be closed and reorganized, and we will conduct warning education and system training for staff, strengthen patrols and inspections, enhance supervision and management of zookeepers, dismiss the zookeeper involved in this incident, and hold related personnel accountable and provide education."

A zookeeper is swinging a metal shovel at a giant panda at the Qinling Giant Panda Research Center in Shanxi Province, China. [Image source=YouTube capture]

The Qinling Panda Research Center was established in 2018 in Xi'an, Shanxi Province, central China, and is one of China's three major panda breeding and research bases. It mainly studies the 'Qinling pandas' distributed in the Qinling Mountains of Shanxi Province. Local media reported last December that the center had a total of 49 pandas, including seven born last year.

This is not the first time there has been controversy over panda abuse in China. Last year, a video was released showing a zookeeper at the Bifengxia Panda Base in Sichuan Province using violent methods to feed pandas. It is also known that Ai Bao, the giant panda sent by China as a symbol of friendship to South Korea and much loved domestically, was abused while living in China in March 2016 during Xi Jinping’s presidency.

As a result, netizens have expressed concerns ahead of the return of Poo Bao, the first giant panda cub born in South Korea to Ai Bao and Le Bao, to China. Poo Bao was born in July 2020 and must return to China before turning four years old for breeding purposes under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Currently, Poo Bao is living inside Everland Panda World under special private health care. Netizens voiced worries such as "Praying that Poo Bao meets a good zookeeper," "Is it okay to treat a national treasure panda like that?" and "I’m too anxious to send him back." However, Poo Bao is planned to live at the Wolong China Giant Panda Sanctuary (Wolong Zhonghua Daxiongmao Yuan) Shenshuping Base in Sichuan Province, which is unrelated to this controversy.