Pandering to Pandas

Artist and naturalist Peter Scott, the mastermind behind London’s wetland centre which we visited last month, was also closely involved with the worldwide fund for nature and designed its logo which is, naturally, the giant panda.

Having been deprived of giant pandas in England ever since Chi Chi died in 1972, (although there are two, Tian Tian and Zhang Guang, in Scotland), we were very keen to visit pandas in a research and breeding area near Chengdu.

Our visit there was yet another high point in our China exploration. Who cannot fall in love with this adorable creature (which the Chinese call bear-cat) and is a great example of how an endangered species can be saved (the panda is now described as ‘vulnerable’ instead of ‘endangered’).

We saw pandas playing with each other, resting on trees, having a good slide-down and gorging themselves on their favourite bamboo shoots. Fortunately, we got to the reserve quite early and found the pandas awake and active and the area not too crowded with visitors.

Let these pictures give some feel of our experiences.

A few points about giant pandas:

The panda used to live in the lowland areas around Chengdu but deforestation and loss of suitable habitat have driven them to the hills and mountains.

The panda anciently used to be carnivorous but now 99% of its diet is vegetarian and bamboo-shoot centered although it will accept other foods including meat.

The panda is very finicky about mating especially when it’s in a reserve hence the big problems zoos and centres have which they get around by using artificial insemination and now also frozen semen.

The female panda gives birth to twins, only one of which survives in the wild. There has been one known case of triplets. While we were there we saw a baby panda which had been abandoned by its mum and was under care.

Normally male pandas are the ones who don’t worry about their offspring, leaving it all to mum.

Giant pandas are not usually aggressive except when they are teased. Their bite is very strong, given they demolish bamboo for their diet.

Because of the low energy level of bamboos pandas spend most of their time eating them and, consequently, defecate around forty times a day.

Pandas in the wild have increased from under a thousand to an estimated three thousand in the last twenty years. There are around seventy pandas in world zoos today.

There is another type of giant panda with more brownish colouring and a smaller frame called the Qinling panda.

The panda was first seen by the west in 1916.

Pandas have been the best ambassadors in easing Chinese – western relationships after the difficult period of the 1960’s.

There is no direct species relationship between giant and red pandas although both live mainly on bamboo and have a false thumb called a sesamoid bone with which to hold bamboo. Here is the equally adorable red panda which is also in the reserve.