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SCMP Reporter

Ocean Park has launched an investigation into a recent panda attack to find out how the 22-year-old animal came to injure his keeper.
The  incident, which took place on November 30,  came to light after a visitor who filmed the moments  after the attack posted his 20-second clip on YouTube.
In the footage, the panda is shown rushing back to its den, leaving the keeper, who was dressed in a green  work suit, on the ground with an injured left leg.
The keeper struggled to the door to seek help. She remained in hospital yesterday and the park said she was recovering.
The veteran animal keeper  joined Ocean Park in 1993 as an exhibit or butterfly attendant. She  was made giant panda keeper in 2001.
Her job title  is terrestrial mammal keeper.
It was the first time a park  employee was admitted to hospital for a panda attack. A park statement confirmed the incident  but stressed that it was an isolated case.
An investigation was under way, it said.
Ocean Park had notified the government  about the case and was following  its instructions to observe An An, a male giant panda that weighs more than 100kg.
It  said the animal was in good health.
A park spokeswoman said specific procedures were laid down for keepers dealing with giant pandas.
'It is a basic principle to separate humans and animals,' she said. 'Staff have to make sure that the pandas are locked inside their dens when they enter the enclosure.'
She would not comment if the keeper had abided by that regulation.
The witness who uploaded the clip,  named Lo, told RTHK that An An  stepped on the keeper for a minute before rushing away in an agitated manner.
Suzanne Gendron,  the park's executive director of zoological operations and education, said pandas were mostly loners and had a well-defined home range, within which they moved about regularly.
'They are very cautious about their territories,' Ms Gendron said. 'They would rather avoid an attack, but that is something they would do to protect [their territories]. Pandas are wild animals.'
She said park officials did not observe the pandas turning aggressive as they aged.
An An and his fellow giant panda, Jia Jia, were presented to Hong Kong as gifts from the mainland in 1999 and Ocean Park has been the entrusted keeper since then.  Two younger giant pandas, Le Le  and Ying Ying,  arrived at the park last year.



Ocean Park probes panda attack on keeper