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Monday, November 24, 2008

I Will Call Him George

Posted by on Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 10:38 AM

A panda at a zoo in southern China attacked a student who snuck into its pen hoping for a cuddle with the endangered bear, state media said Saturday. The 20-year-old male student surnamed Liu jumped over the fence at the zoo in the tourist city of Guilin, ignoring warning signs not to, Xinhua news agency said.

panda_teeth.jpg

"The panda, named Yangyang, was wide awake. Apparently scared by the intruder, he bit at Liu's arms and legs," it quoted an unnamed worker as saying after zoo keepers managed to calm the bear and rescue Liu, the report said.

"Yangyang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him," Liu was quoted as saying from his hospital bed. "I didn't expect he would attack."

 

Comments (23) RSS

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1
Did he get to cuddle the panda before it started biting him? If so, it was worth it.
Posted by jrrrl on November 24, 2008 at 10:39 AM
2
i've noticed a tendency among the chinese i know--and know of through them, to keep their children "young" and sheltered for a long time. this twenty-year old was actually not an adult, and it shows.
Posted by ellarosa on November 24, 2008 at 10:42 AM
3
That guy is a stupid shit and deserves at least an honorable mention for the Darwin Awards.
Posted by DaiBaindo on November 24, 2008 at 10:48 AM
4
since he didn't die it's ok to laugh at him, right?
Posted by Max Solomon on November 24, 2008 at 10:55 AM
5
stephen colbert has been right about bears all along.
Posted by rara avis on November 24, 2008 at 10:58 AM
6
i want panda cuddles.
Posted by hannahbalector on November 24, 2008 at 10:59 AM
7
i like turtles
Posted by eric burnett on November 24, 2008 at 11:01 AM
8
TINY TUNES SHOUT OUT! "I will call him George. I will hold him and pet him and squeeze him and love him ALL UP!" God, I miss that show... Um, tragic about the panda and stuff.
Posted by Suze on November 24, 2008 at 11:02 AM
9
The dummying up of people creates these type of situations. Mascots, cute cuddly toys, animals talking in cartoons....
Sometimes I think some people are just stuck in a child like world.
Posted by -B- on November 24, 2008 at 11:11 AM
10
The image reminds me more of the soon-to-be former Senator Stevens of Alaska, in his famous film clip saying "no". So can we call him "Ted" instead? Not to be confused with Teddy.
Posted by Karl Schuck on November 24, 2008 at 11:12 AM
11
Oh Christ, now Savage is going to be on about banning Panda Bears.

Please note that the fellow DID provoke the panda somehow...
Posted by eric on November 24, 2008 at 11:14 AM
12
what a fucking idiot.

hey suze @8, that whole 'call him george' bit goes way back before tiny toons, bugs bunny used to get that treatment from the abominable snow man all the time.
Posted by douglas on November 24, 2008 at 11:18 AM
13
This is why Chinese people should not do ex.

And @ 12: might as well complete the timeline by pointing out it's all a reference to Lenny Small from Of Mice and Men.
Posted by Banna on November 24, 2008 at 11:21 AM
14
Do pandas really have two penises?
Posted by smade on November 24, 2008 at 11:58 AM
15
Look - even when he's pissed off he's cute!
Posted by Yasmine on November 24, 2008 at 12:04 PM
16
Hey douglas @#12

While chastising someone for calling out a Tiny Toons reference, you might want to check your own on that one.

The original line is from a little tome known as "Of Mice and Men"
Posted by akbar fazil on November 24, 2008 at 12:07 PM
17
Yeah, because white and black and brown kids don't do stupid things when they're 20 years old, and certainly things like drunk driving and expecting it to turn out OK isn't as naive as trying to hug a panda.
Posted by Gloria on November 24, 2008 at 12:18 PM
18
HA! The Chinese are so dumb!
Posted by thecatnextdoor on November 24, 2008 at 12:25 PM
19
i suspected someone would get all over me for noticing a cultural tendency among people i've gotten to know. whatever. the upside is, those kids aren't generally getting into the kinds of trouble that involve being "grown up" like sex, drugs and driving fast--so there is an upside.
Posted by ellarosa on November 24, 2008 at 12:31 PM
20
Hey, can you blame him? Who wouldn't want to hug a panda?!
Posted by caitosaurus! on November 24, 2008 at 1:09 PM
21
Panda hugging! Japanese game show!
Posted by Vince on November 24, 2008 at 1:53 PM
22
In wild Panda populations, the Cuteness Gene was selected for because of the advantages it brought -- the cuter Pandas were more likely to lure food to within striking range, and thus more likely to live and pass on their genes to the next generation. In human populations up until recently, the "desire to hug wild animals" Gene was selected against. This story is a pretty clear illustration of how that worked.

Those bears get all plump and cuddly from their healthy diet of over-eager wildlife affection-seekers. Call it the Treadwell diet.
Posted by flamingbanjo on November 24, 2008 at 2:50 PM
23
@14: No, silly. That's kangaroos.
Posted by Chronos on November 24, 2008 at 5:18 PM

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