Giant Panda Base, Ya’an, Sichuan

20 May 2010

The pictures speak for themselves – how can you not fall in love with these little bundles of cuteness!?! Even macho men, like the British customs police (3 of whom toured the panda base with us), turn soft when they see them…

Thanks to Tod (a Dartmouth classmate of Anne’s), Steve and Janet at Wild Aid, we got the VIP treatment, including the opportunity to pet a 7-month-old panda baby girl. She loves apples and obviously took a liking to Walti (what’s not to love?).

Hopefully she’ll have a long life – the oldest panda in China is 37 years old, and the average age is 25 (a panda year is equivalent to 4.5 human years). The global population today is estimated at not more than 2000, 250 of which are in captivity – and even after 50 years of efforts to protect them, it’s not sure that the effort will succeed. So far, no one has managed to successfully reintroduce a captive-born panda into the wild – and this is a high priority for the panda base in the coming years. All pandas in the world live in 3 provinces in China, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.

The Ya’an Conservation and Research Center Panda Base is 140 km SW of Chengdu. It was established way back in 1967, before the Chinese government really began efforts to protect them and their habitat in the ‘70s. We had the opportunity to have a wonderful lunch (and many “gan bei”) with the Center’s Deputy Director, Prof. Tang. As it turns out, he studied veterinary medicine in Italy, so speaks some Italian and knows his vino rosso.

When Prof. Tang started referring to Walti as his “brother” and offering him cigarettes (which, incidentally cost RMB 60 per pack, about USD 9), we again felt the warmth and sincerity of the Chinese people.

We were joined on out little tour by three UK government officials, who police illicit trade in endangered species, which is regulated by the UN CITES Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Ironically – or typically – Switzerland is a major hub for transit of endangered species goods, such as hides or ingredients for Chinese medicine. This is what brought them to China for their first visit.

Prof. Tang has been running the center (which has roughly 200 employees, half of which are scientists) since 1981. He commented that he has no problems to attract top Chinese scientists and volunteers, particularly from Japan, UK and USA. The pandas are clearly an instrument of goodwill, which draws foreigners to China and helps them to appreciate the country and its people. It is a prestigious job for Chinese scientists to work there. Not surprisingly, the panda center is 95% funded by the central government, with the rest coming from the private sector (including Mercedes Benz) and individuals (to sponsor a panda for life costs RMB 300,000).