A visitor was bitten by a giant panda Sunday after he jumped into a Beijing zoo for a closer look at the panda, the Beijing Times reported Monday.

It was the first time a giant panda had attacked an intruding visitor since the zoo began keeping pandas in 1990, said Mr. Li, who is in charge of raising pandas.

Yang Fangning, 22, a student at the Beijing Agricultural University, went to the giant panda enclosure Sunday noon.

Seeing a panda asleep, Yang jumped into the enclosure for a closer look.

The Panda, Jenny, was awakened and bit Yang on the foot.

Zookeepers rescued Yang and sent him to hospital. He was not seriously injured.

"I thought the sleeping giant panda would not bite visitors," said Yang.

Other visitors had jumped into the pandas' enclosures, but no one had been attacked before, said Mr. Li.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2004)