Beijing (AFP) - A Chinese man who sued local government officials over an attack by a wild panda has won more than $80,000 in compensation, his lawyer said Monday. 
 
 The animals are renowned for their lovable appearance but despite their placid, bamboo-chewing image they are members of the bear family and have a fearsome bite. 
 
 The animal wandered into Liziba village, in the northwestern province of Gansu, where local officials trying to capture it chased it onto Guan Quanzhi's land, the Lanzhou Evening News reported. 
 
 "I saw a panda jump out in front of me, its body completely covered in mud," he told the newspaper. 
 
 The creature bit him in the leg and only released its grip when another villager covered its head with a coat, the report said, and the incident in March last year left Guan with injuries requiring seven hours of surgery. 
 
 The panda escaped. 
 
 Guan's son sued local forestry officials and the nearby Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve, which is home to more than 100 wild pandas. 
 
 Following "negotiations", officials agreed to pay compensation of 520,000 yuan ($83,000), his lawyer Wang Chaohui told AFP. 
 
 Guan is "satisfied with the amount", which will cover his medical bills, he said, adding that he may need further operations. 
 
 The giant panda's natural habitat mostly lies in mountainous southwestern China. They have a notoriously low reproductive rate and are under pressure from factors such as habitat loss. 
 
 The number of wild giant pandas rose nearly 17 percent over the decade to 2013 to reach 1,864, state media cited an official survey data as saying this month, with a government agency crediting conservation measures for the increase. 
 
 Pandas are a major generator of tourist revenue in several parts of China and for Beijing, which capitalises on the global fascination with the animals by renting them to foreign zoos. 
 
 They have been known to attack humans, including in 2008 when a panda mauled a 20-year-old man who climbed into its enclosure at a zoo in southern China. 
 
 The nature conservation organisation WWF says on its website: "As cuddly as they may look, a panda can protect itself as well as most other bears," using its heavy weight, strong jaw muscles and large molar teeth. 
 
 It cautions: "Although used mainly for crushing bamboo, a panda bite can be very nasty." ||||| The villager shows his injured leg after being attacked by a panda. [Photo/Lanzhou Evening News] 
 
 Villager compensated for wild panda attack 
 
 A villager in Northwest China's Gansu province has been compensated 520,000 yuan ($83,000) because his right leg may require amputation after an attack by a wild panda. 
 
 Guan Quanzhi, a farmer in Li Baizi village, was working on his farmland on March 1, 2014 when a wild panda chased by other villagers ran onto his land. All of a sudden, the panda got hold of his leg before he had time to respond. 
 
 He had eight surgeries in the past year and sued three government departments that are responsible for controlling wild animals. 
 
 The forestry bureau at the provincial level and of Longnan city as well as the management bureau of Baishuijiang Natural Reserve agreed to pay the compensation. 
 
 The panda that attacked the villager.[Photo/Lanzhou Evening News] 
 
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– Pandas may prefer their meals in the form of bamboo, but that doesn't mean their bite is toothless. A man in China recently received a harsh reminder of that after a wild panda bit his leg after authorities pursued the critter onto his lawn, reports AFP via Yahoo. The creature had made its way into a northwestern village, which is near a sanctuary that's home to about 100 wild pandas. "I saw a panda jump out in front of me, its body completely covered in mud," the man told local news. A struggle ensued, in which the bear wouldn't release the man's leg until a rescuer wrapped a coat around the animal's head. Finally, it fled—but not before causing injuries which, China Daily reports, led to eight surgeries over the past year and may lead to amputation. The man sued three government departments and won an $83,000 payout that will cover his medical costs, his lawyer says. (China Daily has a pretty gruesome photo of the injury.) "As cuddly as they may look, a panda can protect itself as well as most other bears," the World Wildlife Fund notes, per AFP. Indeed, panda attacks have led to some nasty consequences in the past.