A giant panda in Qingdao Wild Animal Park went on hunger strike because of the weather.

Keepers were baffled as to why Yangyang refused to take her favorite food of fresh bamboo for several days.

But it soon became apparent she was finding the sweltering summer too much to bear, the Qingdai Evening News reported.

Yangyang had recently arrived from southern Sichuan Province where she had had the comfort of an air conditioner to keep her cool during the long humid summers.

Her new keepers mistakenly believed she would find the more northerly location where summers are hot but shorter agreeable.

An air conditioner was hastily installed and Yangyang has since ended her fast and is now enjoying her meal in breezy comfort. "We now understand pandas prefer the temperature to be under 24 degrees all of the time," said Yangyang's career, Lia Chunhua.

(China Daily August 11, 2004)