Curious giant panda climbing to the top of a tree in its enclosure to take a zoo visitor’s colourful hydrogen balloon that was stuck in the canopy.
Smartphone footage shows the panda, named Haoyue, scaling the tree to retrieve the red and white balloon tangled in the branches at a zoo in the city of Yueyang, in China’s southern province of Hunan, on 15th February.
The clip further showed Haoyue grasping the balloon, filled with the highly flammable hydrogen gas, with its teeth before carefully navigating its way down and leaving zoo visitors amazed at the sight.
A second clip recorded just minutes later depicted the panda chewing on the balloon, having mistaken it for bamboo.
Meanwhile, social media users on China’s version of TikTok, Douyin, did not hold back from sharing their opinions in the comment section after the clips emerged on the platform later that day.
Diouyin user ‘Rose Xi’an’ said:” Haoyue took the last bite. I wonder if it swallowed it? But don’t swallow it. I hope the baby is okay.”
Zoo In No Hurry To Show Off Panda Cub
Then user ‘six’ commented: “Why do I feel like it ate a piece? Oh my god, is it okay?”
And ‘It’s classmate Xiao Sun’ added: “This is quite dangerous. The zoo should pay attention.”
Later, zoo authorities said: “The panda vomited the balloon out later. The panda is fine. We have banned people from bringing hydrogen balloons to the zoo.”
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) which is endemic to China, is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the current wild panda population is estimated at 1,864 individuals.
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Story By: Georgina Jedikovska, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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