Camera That Dropped Spectators 'Wumul Wumul'... Fans Angry Over Puba's Dizzying Situation [Video]

Puba Released at Sichuan Sheng Xuanping Base
Visitor's Dropped Camera 'Wumul Wumul'

The giant panda 'Pubao,' returned to China, nearly ate a camera part dropped by a visitor. Pubao's fans criticized this incident as a clear result of the negligence of Pubao's caretaker and expressed anger toward the attitude of Chinese visitors.

Puba chewing on a camera part dropped by a visitor.
[Photo by Weibo]

On the 16th, videos circulated on local social media (SNS) showing that around 9:55 a.m. on the 15th at the Wolong China Giant Panda Base in Sichuan Province, China, a visitor dropped a camera lens hood into Pubao's outdoor enclosure. In the video, Pubao, wandering near the fence where visitors were gathered, showed interest in the lens hood that had fallen into a rainwater gutter, then reached out, picked it up, put it in his mouth, and chewed it. Despite visitors' attempts to stop him, Pubao carried the object to the door of the outdoor enclosure and repeatedly chewed it in his mouth.

The Wolong Base judged that Pubao had ingested a foreign object, immediately retrieved the item, and took Pubao to the indoor enclosure for observation. This caused a temporary suspension of viewing. The base stated, "There is no significant problem with Pubao's health," and added, "We have taken measures to prevent visitors from approaching too closely around the enclosure fence."

However, the reaction from Pubao's fans has been cold. They responded with comments such as "They must be obsessed with making money," "I thought he would be treated like a princess when sent to China," "If this is the case, send him back to Korea," "The level of the visitors is too low," "What if something bad had happened to Pubao?" and "It was a truly frightening situation." Criticism toward the caretaker also continued due to the delayed initial response. Fans expressed anger with remarks like "The viewing distance is too close," and "Is it okay to treat such a precious panda like that?"

Lebao also 'mouthed' a toy dropped by a visitor

Rubao chewing on a toy dropped by a visitor.
[Photo by Jutopia Cafe]

Earlier, in August last year, Pubao's father, 'Lebao,' also nearly swallowed a toy dropped by a visitor into the enclosure. A child visiting Everland Panda World dropped a toy into the giant panda enclosure, and the toy passed through a net installed near the railing and fell onto the enclosure floor. Seeing this, Lebao picked up the toy and tried to swallow it. Everland quickly brought Lebao into the indoor enclosure and conducted a health check, resolving the situation.

Regarding this, Song Young-kwan, the caretaker of Everland pandas, posted on the official cafe, "Lebao was curious about the new object that fell into his space and briefly checked what it was, as seen in the photos. I confirmed that there were no injuries inside his mouth," and added, "The family who dropped the toy sent an apology via email. There is no problem with Lebao, so I hope neither the parents nor the child feel too guilty or hurt."