Chengdu & the Giant Panda

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As part of my 31^st birthday present Dan researched and planned a trip for us to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the home of spicy Chinese cuisine and the epicentre for breeding, research and sustaining the giant panda species. What most of you probably don’t know is that ever since I was young and received a stuffed panda named Zen-Zen for Christmas when I was about 10 years old I have been oddly infatuated with the panda. In China you can not go 5 feet without seeing the image of the panda (which is China’s national animal and they are fiercely proud of). In China the image of the panda is found on everything from cigarettes, menus (although not to eat thank goodness), to bottled water, souvenirs galore, cookie boxes, mittens, toques, t-shirts, bottles of wine and everything in between. However, while the image of the panda is everywhere, living breathing wild pandas are not. As with many endangered species the destruction of natural habitat, human development and poaching have lead to their numbers dwindling to critical levels in recent years. In addition to habitat loss and illegal poaching pandas are sexually very timid and have difficulty finding a suitable mate (to be blunt you could call them extremely “picky“). If the picky pandas can successfully find a mate that meets their high standards and the female is impregnated she will likely only give birth to one cub…. and to top it off when a cub is born it will only weigh approximately 3-6 ounces (about the size of an apple) therefore survival of a cub in the wild is very slim. Because of these factors the harsh reality is that the giant panda is unable to sustain adequate numbers in the wild given the current environment. Therefore in 1987 the Chinese government made it their mission to increase the number of giant pandas and created the breeding and research centre in Chengdu that has been working diligently for 24 years to do so. Today the breeding centre there is home to over 100 pandas and we were lucky enough to go a visit them. Because pandas are extremely lazy and are only awake and active for a few hours every morning (and really this is only to chow down on bamboo!!!) we set out at 6:30am with 4 other backpackers from our hostel, aptly named Lazy Bones after the pandas we were going to visit. We arrived to the breeding and research centre shortly after 7am and had the opportunity to spend the next 4 hours observing pandas of all ages, both male and female. Pandas are very animated and their personalities, like humans, are unique to the individual. Some are playful, some inquisitive, some shy and passive, some rebel rousers, but all of them are down right lovable and they capture your heart instantly. They are so round, gentle in nature and their mannerisms are freakishly human, especially when eating. Cubs are born in the fall so we were able to see lots of little guys of all ages including a few that were only a few months old… A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!! I wanted to jump over the fence grab one or two, put them under my arm and make a runner with the baby pandas in tow. Needles to say Dan talked me out of it (he was pretty sure the Chinese had snipers in the trees!!!!) and I am sad to report we will not be returning to Shanghai with a baby panda in our backpack… too bad!!!! Guess my childhood dream of having a real pet panda is out of the question… I did get a panda keychain like a good tourist though!!!

While it is very unfortunate and extremely unlikely that wild pandas will be successful in increasing their numbers it is reassuring to know that the Chinese are committed saving the species and that significant amounts of money, research, education and effort at the breeding and research centre will ensure the giant panda will remain beloved in the hearts of the Chinese and the world forever.


Thanks for the birthday present Daniel!

Until next time…

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Photos

Full grown male panda
Chengdu, China

A bamboo breakfast!
An adult panda will consume around 40kg of bamboo a day!!!

Baby panda
One of the lil' guys I wanted to make a runner with...

Comments

[John Watson]

The "Giant Panda"
They are truely unigue and very cute. Thank goodnes someone is taking care of them!!