Matt in China - 2011 - Pandamonium

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cbobcat49
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The Red Panda is not really a Panda
It looks like its of the raccoon family.
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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Matt
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How's this for a wildlife shot... somebody crushed this cricket... which normally wouldn't be a big deal... but this thing was 4 inches long. :shock:
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The nursery was very dimly lit. Very tough to get decent photos.
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Matt
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Love them all! :up: :up:
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




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Matt
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[img2]http://nyfalls.com/posts/china2/170.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://nyfalls.com/posts/china2/171.jpg[/img2]

So, why all the fascination on Pandas?
They are one of the more critically endangered animals on Earth with numbers in the low thousands (perhaps 2000 - no one knows for sure).
It is not nearly as endangered as say... the American Grizzly Bear, but considering its decline over the past century and the considerable amount of knowledgeable modern zoological effort to preserve the species, the panda is alive and stable at this point, and it is nothing short of a miracle. We now have an expanded understanding of the evolution and behavior of a highly specialized mammal species as a result of the close studies being done at the base. This knowledge can be applied to other animals that may need our attention in the future.

Without this massive preservation effort, the Giant Panda would have been extinct a decade ago. It's not the Panda's fault. Its the population and hunger for resources in China. There just isn't any more wild space for the Pandas. Their brush with extinction is 99% caused by human involvement in their range. Although the impact of the massive 2008 earthquake in Sichuan on the Panda's remaining habitat is not yet known, a secondary panda breeding center in the province was severely damaged and lost most of its operations. That is not a good sign.

The Panda breeding center is the world's leading example of species preservation. It is a model for saving critically endangered species around the world. It's success is also the result of a bit of luck. Pandas are cute and somewhat manageable. Although this type of treatment is needed for the Californian Condor and the American Grizzly, people just don't consider condors cute enough to support tourism and raise funds. Grizzlies would be a tad difficult to manage, I suspect.

Most important is the public image of this breeding project. With constant positive attention on the side of the world the is developing environmental policy decades behind the west, this conservation effort demonstrates that not only can governments manage their biodiversity, but turn them into symbols of success, luck, and national pride. Like with Elephants in Thailand and the giant river fish species of Cambodia, organizations in the east are beginning to mixing tourism and education into efforts to promote the continued existence of rare native species. Protecting an endangered species no longer has to be a burden. Government sponsored efforts that go beyond protection laws and coordinating preserves is something sorely needed here in the west and although the concepts of modern endangered species preservation has its roots here, it has evolved to the next level at the panda base in Sichuan, China.
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Matt
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The research base in Chengdu has installed a bunch of cameras around the breeding center
you can watch them live here: http://live.ipanda.com/
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