The shocking attack on a child and her mother at Dublin zoo this week is not the first time lives have been put in danger in zoos across the world.

Fears were raised today over the safety of scores of China's giant pandas in the wake of last month's huge earthquake.

A male panda at the Beijing Zoo that was once bitten by a drunk tourist has attacked a teenager, ripping chunks out of the boy's legs, officials and a Chinese newspaper said today.

A zookeeper needed more than 100 stitches after a panda viciously bit and scratched him during feeding time at a zoo in China, a newspaper reported today.

A drunken Chinese migrant worker jumped into a panda enclosure at the Beijing Zoo, was bitten by the bear and retaliated by chomping down on the animal's back, state media said today.