Panda fights off enclosure-invading man at Chinese zoo

NANCHANG, China, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A visitor to a Chinese zoo was filmed climbing into a panda enclosure and wrestling with the den's resident for about five minutes.

Video from the Thursday incident at the Nanchang Zoo in Jiangxi Province shows the man, identified only by the surname Chen, walking through the panda exhibit and approaching a 12-year-old male bear named Meiling and waving at the animal.

Chen fails to get a reaction from the panda, which appears to be napping, so he touches it on the head.

Meiling wakes when touched by the intruder and sets about wrestling with the man for several minutes.

Chen, who appears to be losing the wrestling match, eventually gets away from Meiling and escapes the enclosure.

The state-run People's Daily said Chen told officials he climbed into the enclosure in attempt to impress the two women who accompanied him to the zoo Thursday. He was given a medical examination and found to be uninjured.

The zoo did not say whether it plans to pursue any criminal charges in the incident.