Everland grounds panda Fubao for trying to escape

Everland's popular panda, Fubao, has been banned from going out after trying to escape.

It was reported that giant panda Fubao has recently attempted to escape twice from her outdoor enclosure at Everland, South Korea’s largest theme park, located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Following the attempts, the panda was confined inside for the time being.

The latest case occurred on Monday. Fubao went outside and climbed over a transparent fence, according to the theme park. Then she knocked over barbed wire enclosing in the yard and began to dig up bamboo on the other side of the fence.

Staff reportedly tried to lure Fubao back inside with carrots, but the panda's attempt to bust out of the enclosure continued for half an hour. It ended when Kang Cheol-won, a veteran zookeeper known as "Fubao’s Grandpa," led the panda back inside the fenced-in area.

Fubao previously tried to climb over the fence on Nov. 8. After several attempts, she succeeded in knocking it over. According to local media reports, Everland visitors who witnessed the first escape attempt exclaimed, “(She’s) a panda who enjoys trying to get out of here!”

Following these two escape attempts, Everland decided to ground Fubao from Tuesday, the day after her latest attempt, so as to repair the damaged fence and bamboo. During the repairs, visitors will be able to see Fubao indoors since the ban is limited to the outdoor yard only.

“As soon as the repairs have been completed, we’re going to put Fubao back out there. It won’t take long to freshen things up,” an Everland official said.

Fubao is a female panda born July 20, 2020 at Everland. Her name means "treasure that brings happiness" in Mandarin. She recently got two siblings named Huibao and Luibao, meaning "shining treasure" and "wise treasure," respectively.

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