Pan-kun (パン君, born October 1, 2001) is a young

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

in Japan often featured on the

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...

television show ''Tensai! Shimura Dōbutsuen'' (''天才！志村動物園'', lit. ''Genius! Shimura Zoo'') and the TBS program ''Dōbutsu Kisō Tengai!'' (''どうぶつ奇想天外!'', lit. ''Unbelievable Animals!''). Most of the segments feature him and his

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Mount Aso Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, in the

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

. After moving in, Pankun has turned into the main event of the zoo, featuring daily stage shows of various themes in Japanese.

Attack

In 2012 when Pankun was performing for the Aso Cuddly Dominion Zoo, he attacked a student trainee staff and severely injured her. The attack was sudden and it left "cuts on her forehead, ears, ankles, and back." The woman was flown by a helicopter to a hospital where she was hospitalized for weeks. As a result, Pankun was forced to retire from the show business in the Cuddly Dominion zoo.

Legacy of the show

The show has also been translated into international versions; for Nickelodeon in India as ''The Munnabhai Show'', for

JET TV Japan Entertainment Television, or JET TV, is a television station in Taiwan that broadcasts programs relating to aspects of Japanese culture. JET TV was founded in Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sove ...

in Taiwan (狗狗猩猩大冒險), for Modern Nine in Thailand (ขำกลิ้งลิงกับหมา) and

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

in Hong Kong (阿笨與阿占) as '' The Adventures of Pan and James: Chimpanzee and Bulldog on Errands'', winning Best Foreign Purchased Program at the 2006

TVB Anniversary Awards The TVB Anniversary Awards (), officially known as the TVB Awards Presentation, is an annual awards ceremony honoring TVB's programming achievements in Hong Kong television; despite claims that it is the region's equivalent to the American Emm ...

. Another show called ''We Are Friends'', which also involves a chimpanzee and a French bulldog companion, was filmed in Thailand but aired on

Zhejiang TV Zhejiang Television (ZJTV, ) is a Satellite television, satellite television channel owned by Zhejiang Radio and Television Group serving Zhejiang, Zhejiang Province. It was launched on October 1, 1960. History January 1, 1994, Zhejiang TV pro ...

References

{{Notable apes Individual chimpanzees 2001 animal births Primate attacks Chimpanzee actors Individual animals in Japan

Attack

Legacy of the show

See also

References