'Peace' the Panda bites his keeper

A giant panda whose name means 'peace' bit a keeper on the leg at Hong Kong's Ocean Park, officials said today.

The panda attacked as the keeper was laying bamboo leaves in its enclosure.

Spokeswoman Christie Lau said the park keeper was recovering well in hospital after the attack.

She also said park officials were investigating the 30 November incident involving the male panda, whose name "An An" translates as "peace."

A video clip on YouTube allegedly shows the post-attack scene with the keeper in a green uniform crawling out of the panda pen as the animal runs back into its den.

A local newspaper quoted an unidentified park employee as saying the keeper did not follow proper protocol, which requires locking pandas in sleeping dens before putting bamboo leaves in their habitat.