Other names: Flower Cat, Flower Bear, Flower Bear, Bamboo Bear, Flower Head Bear, Silver Dog, Big Raccoon, Aqu, Du Dongga, Zhiyi, Raccoon, Leopard, Beast, Iron Eating, Panda, Raccoon, White Bear, Black and White Cat.
English name: giant panda
Spelling: dà xióng māo
French name: panda géant
How did the name of the giant panda come from?
About the name of the giant panda: the giant panda is a scientific name, but the word "panda" that people usually say orally is the wrong name. Many people are used to saying this sentence wrongly. In fact, there is no such animal as "panda". Panda cubs should be called "little pandas", which is another kind of animal.
Giant pandas are now commonly known as pandas, which used to be called pandas. When it was exhibited in the early years of the Republic of China, it was stipulated that the names of each exhibit were arranged from left to right in Chinese and English, but the reading order in China was still from right to left. In addition, the giant panda at that time was not called a national treasure as it is now, and only a few people knew it. So everyone thinks its name is "Panda". The fallacy was passed down by convention, and finally the name in the Chinese world was changed forever.
Giant pandas belong to
chordata
A subclass of vertebrates.
mammal
Carnivore, carnivore
Canidae, a suborder Canidae.
Xiong Ke, Xiong Ke
Giant panda subfamily
panda
The giant panda is a lively animal with a unique black and white coat color. Its Latin name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca refers to its black and white appearance. The species of the giant panda has been debated for a century: does it belong to Xiong Ke, or is it as close to Xiong Huan as the red panda, or is it one of its own species? The recent DNA analysis shows that the giant panda belongs to Xiong Ke and represents the early branch of Xiong Ke. Adult giant pandas are about 120~ 190 cm long and weigh 85 ~ 125 kg. Unique features include: large and flat molars, one of which has developed into a "fake thumb", all of which are to adapt to the life of eating bamboo. Unlike the other six kinds of bears, neither the giant panda nor the sun bear hibernates. The ancestor of giant panda is Ailuaractos lufengensis, which is the earliest carnivorous panda evolved from bear-like species. At first, the main branch of the panda continued to evolve in central and southern China. One of them appeared in the early Pleistocene about 3 million years ago and was smaller than the panda today. Judging from its teeth, it has evolved into an omnivore that eats bamboo. Since then, this main branch has spread to the subtropics, with a wide distribution, and fossils have been found in North China, Northwest China, East China, Southwest China, South China and even Vietnam and North Myanmar. In this process, the giant panda adapted to the subtropical bamboo forest life, gradually increased in size, and lived on bamboo. The giant panda reached its peak in the middle and late Pleistocene 500,000-700,000 years ago. Nowadays, the molars of giant pandas are well developed, and their claws have a "thumb" in addition to five toes. This "thumb" is actually a specialized formation of a wrist bone, scientifically called "radial sesamoid bone", which mainly plays the role of holding bamboo.
The classification status of giant pandas has always been controversial. The ancestors of giant pandas are primitive pandas evolved from bear-like species. At present, this is the internationally accepted classification method of Xiong Ke and Giant Panda Subsubfamily, and it is gradually recognized in China. The traditional classification of giant pandas in China lists them as giant pandas.
IUCN: Endangered
State key protection level: level 1
China's Red Book of Endangered Animals Grade: Endangered
China's National Treasure Animals
Giant pandas are fat and bear-shaped, but their heads are round and tails are short, and their heads and bodies are black and white. Its body length 120~ 180 cm, tail length 10~20 cm, white, and weight 60 ~10 kg. The head is round and big, and the front foot has a sixth toe besides five toes with claws. The trunk is white, the ears, eyes, limbs and shoulder blades are all black, and the abdomen is light brown or grayish black.
The giant panda living in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province is known as the "beauty" among the national treasures because of its round head and more like a cat.
On June 65438+1October1day, 2008, shenzhen huada gene research institute announced the completion of the world's first giant panda genome sequence map. Scientists say that this will provide a new way for protecting and artificially breeding this endangered species called "China National Treasure" and promote other scientific research of giant pandas.
In March, 2008, the international "Giant Panda Genome Research" project was initiated by scientists from China and participated by scientists from Canada, Britain, the United States and Denmark. Mapping the giant panda genome sequence is the first part of this project, and shenzhen huada gene research institute has undertaken the main task. BGI's self-developed genome-wide assembly software and self-built high-performance computer played a key role in it. Scientists chose Jingjing, a giant panda, for genome sequencing. Jingjing is one of the prototypes of the mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and currently lives in Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base.
It is found that the giant panda * * * has 2 1 chromosome pairs, and the genome size is similar to that of human beings, about 3 billion base pairs, including 20,000-30,000 genes.
The results of genome sequencing support the view that giant pandas are a subfamily of Xiong Ke. Compared with the sequenced species, the researchers also found that the giant panda genome is the closest to the dog genome in structure, which is very similar to human beings, but very different from the mouse in mammals.
The completion of the panda genome sequence will help to solve the problem of low reproductive capacity of pandas from the genetic point of view, thus giving scientists the opportunity to help breed more pandas.
Other participants in this research work include Shenzhen University, Beijing Genome Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base, China Giant Panda Research Center, Fudan University and Hong Kong University. It is reported that the research plan on the function and structure of the giant panda protein Group jointly implemented with Nankai University will be launched soon.
At present, there are only about 1590 wild giant pandas in the world, mainly distributed in the mountainous areas around Sichuan Province in China, and they are called "living fossils". In addition, by the end of 2007, there were 239 giant pandas in captivity in China.
Giant pandas live in temperate forests on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwest China, where bamboo is the main undergrowth plant. This series of high mountains and deep valleys in the transition from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China includes Qinling, Minshan, Qionglai, Daxiangshan and Daxiangshan. Qinling Mountains are distributed in the southern foothills, with Foping as the main county, Yangxian as the general county, and Taibai, Ningshan, Zhouzhi, Liuba and Ningqiang as only a few counties. Minshan series is generally distributed in Sichuan except Wenxian County, Gansu Province. Pingwu, Qingchuan and Beichuan are the main counties in Sichuan, Jiuzhaigou, Songpan and Maoxian are widely distributed, and Anxian, Mianzhu, Pengzhou, Shifang and Dujiangyan are a few counties. Qionglai Mountains are mainly distributed in Baoxing, Wenchuan and Tianquan counties. The general counties are Dayi and Lushan, and only a few counties are Qionglai, Chongzhou, Kangding and Luding. In addition to Hongya and Mianning, there are only several counties such as Yingjing, Shimian, Hanyuan and Jiulong in Xiangling. In addition to Mabian, Meigu and Yuexi, Liangshan has only Ganluo, Ebian and Leibo counties.
How many pandas are there in the wild at present? This is a difficult question to answer! Living in the dense bamboo forest on the steep mountain slope, the statistics of giant pandas has become a very hard work. There were two surveys in 1970s and 1980s, and it was estimated that there were about 1 000 wild giant pandas, which may be low. There are 37 counties in the distribution area of giant pandas. According to the three levels of main production, general production and small quantity, there are about 100 pandas in each county, and there are 7 counties in * * *; Generally, there are more than 50 counties, with * *11county; There are usually less than 50 counties with low productivity, and there are 19 counties. Based on this calculation, the total number of wild giant pandas is about 1000, and that in captivity is about 100. The net reproduction rate of giant pandas is 1.0002, and the population growth is slow. According to the investigation of the State Forestry Administration in 2006, there are totally 596 wild giant pandas1in China, and the number in captivity is 16 1 individual. The giant panda is one of the rarest mammals in the Xiong Ke family and one of the most threatened mammals. According to the investigation in 1980s, the habitat area is about 13000 square kilometers. According to the investigation report of the State Forestry Administration in 2005, it has been confirmed that the Qinling population of giant panda is a new subspecies of giant panda. The Qinling giant panda and the Sichuan giant panda have been separated geographically for 50 thousand years, and the head of the Qinling giant panda is round. At present, there are 273 giant pandas in Qinling Mountains. Brown pandas were found among black and white pandas in Qinling Mountains.
[Edit this paragraph] Living environment
Giant pandas inhabit the high mountains and deep valleys in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which is the windward side of the southeast monsoon. The climate is warm, cool and humid, and the humidity is often above 80%, so they are wet-loving animals. Their active areas are mostly in ravines, mountainside depressions, river valley terraces and so on. , generally in the gentle slope terrain below 20. These places have fertile soil, lush trees and good bamboo growth, forming an excellent food base, relatively stable temperature, good hidden conditions and abundant food and water resources. Living in the alpine bamboo forest at an altitude of 2400~3500 meters. Its living environment is very humid, and the temperature difference is relatively large.
Except in estrus, I often live a solitary life and walk day and night. The nesting area is 3.9~6.4 square kilometers, and individuals overlap. The nesting area of males is slightly larger than that of females. Most of the time, females only live in the nuclear domain of 30~40 hectares, and the nuclear domains between females do not overlap. The food is mainly 50 kinds of bamboo in alpine and subalpine mountains, and I occasionally eat other plants and even animal carcasses. I eat a lot every day. I drink water from springs or streams every day.
1, forest harvesting. The annual cutting area of giant panda habitat is at least 6,543,800 hectares. Its habitat is disappearing at a rate of about 2.5 square kilometers per year (Kreman et al., 199 1 year). In the past 30 years, the population of giant pandas in Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan provinces has doubled to more than 430,000 people, and the number of large-scale forest industry enterprises (excluding county-owned timber yards) has increased from 1950 to 1985, with a total of 27. The verified forest harvesting area exceeds 420,000 hectares, and the average annual harvesting area exceeds 20,000 hectares, resulting in 70% habitat destruction. 15 years later, it decreased sharply to 13, 92 1.52 square kilometers, with a reduced area of 17528.48 square kilometers, accounting for 56% of the original habitat, and has caused the disappearance of giant pandas in six cutting areas. Only a few giant pandas remain in 10 cutting area.
2. Catch too much. For example, in Caopo, Wenchuan County, Britain and the United States and other western countries before liberation, more than 20 live animals were collected and captured (hunters were outside), resulting in a red panda population there, which has not recovered for more than 50 years. Another example is Baoxing County. From 1963 to now, only one county has captured more than 1 13 giant pandas. Since the mid-1950s, more than 240 pandas captured in the wild have been exhibited at home and abroad, including more than Baoxing 1 10 and more than 60 in Pingwu, which led to the destruction of the population structure in these two counties and the obvious decline of their numbers. According to the life table analysis of giant pandas, it takes about 12 years for one generation, and the population growth is very slow. If a large number of giant pandas are caught, it will take decades to recover even if they are well protected.
3. In recent years, the phenomenon of poaching and smuggling panda skin specimens still occurs from time to time;
4. The giant panda population is distributed in more than 25 isolated island habitats. These isolated habitats are 205 square kilometers (30~2384km), most of which (67%) are less than 350km2. The isolation and differentiation of this population is an important factor that threatens its population for a long time. The decline of inbreeding in small groups will reduce the fecundity, the survival rate of larvae and the resistance to diseases. Eventually, the members of the island will disappear. According to Pan's genetic analysis of the giant panda population in Qinling Mountains, there are more than 200 giant pandas there, which can form about 90 breeding populations, and the decreasing rate of heterozygosity in generations is 0.54%. After 12 generations, that is, after 140 years, every member will have the same gene of 1/8, which is equivalent to the genetic relationship between cousins.
Due to the expansion of human activities, the giant panda was forced to retreat to the top of the mountain, and the bamboo species were very single. Once the bamboo blooms, there is no room for manoeuvre. Only 1975 blooms and 138 dies in Minshan area. In 1980s, Dendrocalamus giganteus bloomed in Qionglai mountain area. After the disaster, giant panda corpses were found 108, and 33 died after being rescued, accounting for 1, 4 1.
6. Mining without government permission and pollution of giant panda habitat, as well as logging and hunting by miners are also threats.
7. The net reproductive rate of giant pandas is 1.040002. Only a few offspring are born in a lifetime, usually once every two years. Only two baby pandas are born at one birth, and the mother panda has no energy to feed them all.
7. Their natural enemies mainly attack the cubs of giant pandas and the sick old people, because young and strong giant pandas still have the ferocity of their carnivorous ancestors, and they will be afraid of their enemies when they are strong.
Species history
Fossils show that the ancestors of giant pandas appeared in the early Holocene 2-3 million years ago. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, it was the heyday of the giant panda, belonging to the saber-toothed elephant paleontology. The giant panda's habitat once covered most of eastern and southern China, from Beijing in the north to southern Myanmar and northern Vietnam in the south (Xiale, 1993). Fossils are usually found in temperate or subtropical forests at an altitude of 500~700 meters. Later, animals died out one after another in the same period, but the giant panda has survived to this day, maintaining its original and ancient characteristics. Therefore, it has a lot of scientific value, so it is known as a "living fossil" and China regards it as a "national treasure". At present, the distribution of giant pandas is very narrow, limited to the southern slope of Qinling Mountain, Minshan Mountain, Qionglai Mountain, Daxiangling Mountain and Liangshan Mountain in China. Great changes in the habitat of giant pandas only occur in modern times. In recent hundreds of years, the population of China has surged, occupying land and many habitats have disappeared. In the past, the giant panda once lived in a low mountain valley, but now it has become a residential area. Giant pandas can only live at the altitude 1200~3400 meters where bamboo can grow. At present, our government has taken a series of effective measures to better protect this endangered living fossil. The living conditions of giant pandas have always been concerned by the world. In the future, protecting and breeding giant pandas will require a lot of arduous work.
[Edit this paragraph] Food characteristics
The giant panda's diet is very special, including almost all kinds of bamboo that can be found in the mountains. Giant pandas occasionally eat meat (usually animal carcasses and sometimes bamboo rats). The unique food characteristics of giant pandas make them known as "bamboo bears" by locals. Bamboo lacks nutrition and can only provide basic nutrition for survival. The giant panda gradually evolved the characteristics of adapting to this diet. In the wild, pandas eat for as long as 14 hours every day except sleeping or short-distance activities. A giant panda eats 12 ~ 38kg of food every day, which is close to 40% of its weight. Giant pandas like to eat the most nutritious and least cellulose-containing parts of bamboo, namely tender stems, buds and bamboo shoots. Giant pandas usually have at least two kinds of bamboos in their habitats. When one kind of bamboo blooms and dies (bamboo blooms and dies periodically every 30~ 120 years), giant pandas can switch to other bamboos. The continuous fragmentation of habitats increases the possibility that there is only one kind of bamboo in habitats. When this kind of bamboo dies, the giant pandas in this area will face the threat of starvation.
[Edit this paragraph] Captivity and social behavior
"Reproduction difficulty" is used as a news headline to describe the reproduction of giant pandas. However, field research shows that although giant pandas live longer in captivity, the success rate of breeding in the wild is higher. In the wild, adult pandas, both male and female, are involved in breeding. A female can mate with several competing males, and a male will look for different females during estrus. The mating season is from March to May in spring, usually no more than 2-4 days. About 5 months pregnant. Occasionally there are twins in the wild, but female pandas usually only feed one cub. Twins are more common in captive populations. Before giving birth, females look for the roots of empty trees and caves to give birth. It will stay in and around this shelter for three months, taking care of its young carefully with its wide palm. Giant panda cubs are very small at birth, usually only 100~200 grams, only about 1/900 of the female bear's weight. A few days to a month after the birth of a panda cub, the mother panda will leave the cub alone in a hole or a tree hole to go out for food. Females sometimes leave for two days or more. This does not mean that it abandons its young, but it is a natural part of the process of raising its young. The young began to eat bamboo around 12 months, but before that, they were completely dependent on their mothers. The infant mortality rate in the wild is lower than that in captivity, about 40%.
Long-term research in Qinling Mountains shows that the reproductive rate of giant pandas is about 0.654/female/year, which is similar to some natural populations of brown bears in North America.
Giant pandas are solitary animals, and the nesting area of each adult is very clear. The nesting area of male individuals is usually very large, close to 30 square kilometers, which generally overlaps with that of multiple females. When male pandas meet in the same nest, such as around female pandas in heat, there is an obvious hierarchical relationship between them, which will lead to competition for spouses. The dominant male has the priority to mate with the female, but other males still have a chance. Female individuals are sexually mature at the age of 3-4, and male individuals are about 5 years old. Young males are in a lower position in the hierarchy and have no chance to mate until they are 7-8 years old. Female individuals are from 4 to 20 years old and usually give birth every 2-3 years. Although the only family structure of giant pandas exists only between the mother and the cubs under one and a half years old, giant pandas often communicate with each other through sounds and smells, even if they are not in estrus. Giant panda cubs are weaned at about one year old and stay with their mothers until they are about one and a half years old, until their mothers are pregnant again. If the mother is not pregnant, the cub will live with her until she is two and a half years old, when her mother will drive her away. After independence, most cubs live near their mothers, while other cubs, especially females, live far from their birthplaces. The behavior of giant pandas needs further study.
Giant pandas in captivity can live for 30 years or more, but the life span of wild giant pandas is usually only about 20 years.
[Edit this paragraph] Discovery of Giant Panda
The discovery of giant pandas
From 1862 to 1874, the French missionary David lived in China for 12 years, during which he only went back to France once. In addition to sending a large number of plant specimens back to France, he also introduced many new plant species to France and Europe, and discovered 58 new species of birds, 100 new species of insects and many important new species of mammals, including giant pandas, golden monkeys and elk endemic to China.
After David came to China for the second time in 1867, he heard that there are many kinds of animals in western Sichuan, some of which are still rare and unknown, so he came to Baoxing from Shanghai and served as the fourth generation pastor in Dunchigou Church in Donghe, Mu Ping.
1In the spring of 869, David had been preaching in Dengchigou Catholic Church in Baoxing for more than two years. On the afternoon of March 1 1, David and several people came to the source of Dengchigou and collected several biological specimens. They were happily returning to the Catholic Church. On the way, they passed a family named Li, and the host politely invited them to have tea at home. Suddenly, a strange black and white animal skin hanging on the wall attracted David deeply. The owner told him that the local people called this animal "white bear", "flower bear" or "bamboo bear". It is very docile and generally won't hurt people. The hunter of the Li family told David that he would soon see the animal alive. David is very excited. He estimated that this animal "will be an interesting new species in science", and this discovery will fill a gap in the world's animals.
In order to get this strange animal, David hired 20 local hunters to search for it. On March 23rd, the hunters sent the first little "white bear". "It's a pity that they killed it for convenience."
1On May 4th, 869, the hunters finally brought good news to David: they caught a "bamboo bear" and six "long-tailed monkeys". After careful consideration, David named the bamboo bear "black and white bear" and the long-tailed monkey "upturned nose monkey". The naive "black and white bear" is deeply loved by David because of its furry, black and white appearance, round head and funny movements. He weighed himself and measured himself for a while, and made a scientific observation on this "black and white bear" that the locals had never seen before.
After a period of careful feeding, David decided to bring this lovely "black and white bear" back to France. However, it is not easy to bring these treasures from Mu Ping (now Baoxing) on the western edge of the western Sichuan Plain to the French Empire on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, under the condition of very limited traffic conditions, it was not only necessary to climb mountains and mountains, but also to cross the ocean. As a result, this lovely "black and white bear" can't stand the turbulence of long-distance mountain roads and the constant change of climate, and it is dying before it is transported to Chengdu. Father David had to make a specimen of the skin of this "black and white bear" with great regret and send it to the National Museum of Paris, France for exhibition. Father David never imagined that the world's first giant panda model specimen was made in this way.
After the exhibition of this animal skin in the National Museum of Paris, no one knew at that time. People see from the hide that it has a big white face of Zhang Yuanyuan, and there are two circles of deep dark spots around the eyes, like wearing a pair of sunglasses, so some people conclude that there is no such animal in the world, and the hide is fake! Some people say it's just a strange bear. However, after a thorough study by Miller Edwards, the curator of the museum, he thought it was neither a bear nor a cat, but another kind of giant panda similar to that found in Tibet, China, so he officially named it "Giant Panda".
65438-0939, Chongqing Pingming Zoo held an exhibition of animal specimens, among which the "Panda" specimen attracted the most attention of the audience. Its logo adopts the internationally accepted writing format, representing Chinese and Latin respectively. But at that time, because of the habit of reading Chinese from right to left, tourists all read "panda" as "panda". Over time, people used to call "panda". A newspaper in Taiwan Province Province once wrote an article to correct the name of "panda", but people have become accustomed to it, but they think "panda" is not so smooth.
From then on, the modern name "Giant Panda" was born! David became the first foreigner to introduce China Baoxing Giant Panda to the western world.
It is understood that in 1870, Father David sent the giant panda skin back to the National Museum in Paris, France, and named the golden monkey collected by Baoxing (called "long-tailed monkey" by locals or "long-tailed monkey" by David and "golden monkey" by Director Edward), green-tailed pheasant (shell hen) and red panda (red panda).
The great wealth of an unfortunate woman
The discovery of giant pandas caused a sensation in the western world. Since then, groups of western explorers, hunting team hunters and museum specimen collectors have come to the giant panda producing area to try to uncover the mystery of the giant panda and hunt this rare animal. Among them were President Roosevelt's two sons, theodore roosevelt and Mitt Roosevelt. The two brothers first went to Baoxing county, where David found the giant panda, but found nothing, and then entered Daliangshan. In Yuexi county, they shot and killed a giant panda and took it back to the United States as a specimen. Later, German and British explorers hunted giant pandas, and even more of them were bought from hunters in China. At that time, many museums in western countries had specimens of giant pandas. But they never caught a live panda.
Sixty-seven years after Father David discovered the giant panda, a tenacious American woman finally realized her dream of catching a live giant panda. 1936, Ruth hax, a 35-year-old female fashion designer in new york, got married. Her husband, William hax, was an avid explorer. Two weeks after her marriage, she went to China to look for giant pandas. However, William died in Shanghai before he got to the panda producing area. Ruth first asked to go with her husband, but he turned her down as a burden. Now she is determined to fulfill her husband's last wish and leave for China in April, 1936, two months after his death.
There are only two people in Ruth's expedition-she and 25-year-old Chinese American Yang. Yang's brother once participated in the China expedition of Roosevelt's son. They took a small wooden boat from Shanghai to Chengdu, and then entered Wenchuan, looking for traces of giant pandas in the deep forests and setting traps for hunting. 165438+1October 9, when they came to a bamboo forest covered with snow (experts verified it as Caopo Township in Wenchuan County), they heard a sound similar to a baby crying coming from the hole of a dead tree. When Yang Quentin caught a furry little animal from a tree hole and handed it to Ruth who was numb with cold, she couldn't believe it. This is the living giant panda that westerners have dreamed of for more than half a century! Ruth thought that this little guy weighing less than 3 kg was a female (later proved to be a male), so she named her after her wife Yang. Lucky Ruth knew how precious what she got, and quickly returned to Chengdu with Su Lin, and then flew to Shanghai. But I have difficulty leaving this country.
Although westerners have been looking for the giant panda for more than half a century, and know that it is a kind of endangered rare animal, before that, China people knew almost nothing about the giant panda. Hunters can kill this "bear" at will, and the government has no laws and measures to protect it. Ruth's trouble is not that she caught the giant panda, but that the procedures for entering Chinese mainland are incomplete, so she can't leave the country. Finally, she boarded the ship to America by bribery. She put Su Lin in a big wicker basket, wrote "Bring a pug" on the customs registration form, and then went out of the customs.
Super animal star
Ruth and Sue are still sailing in the Pacific Ocean, and the number is tied on the ribbon. Overseas telegrams have already spread the news all over the United States. It was the day before Christmas when the ship docked at the San Francisco pier. Surprised Americans held a grand welcoming ceremony on the dock. They arranged the most luxurious suite for their precious guests and held a grand welcome party. Su Lin was sent to many big cities for exhibitions, and everywhere she went, she caused a sensation. When Theodore, the son of Roosevelt who had been to China to look for giant pandas, saw Su Lin, he said with great emotion, "If this little guy is regarded as a souvenir under my gun, I would rather use my son instead."
After fierce competition, the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago won Surin. People flooded here, with a maximum of 40 thousand people a day, exceeding the record of the zoo. Su Lin's every move became news in the newspaper. Businessmen compete to produce products with the image of giant pandas. Fashionable girls paraded in the market wearing swimsuits with giant panda designs, and even a cocktail was named after the giant panda. The story of Ruth and Surin became a best seller and was put on the screen.
Unfortunately, Surin lived only one year and was made into a specimen for permanent exhibition. The appearance of Surin made the giant panda enter the public from the museum. She is not only rare, but also very cute, and she has become an animal star all over the world for a time. Western powers went to China to catch giant pandas. From 1936 to 194 1, the United States alone took nine giant pandas from China, and the Chengdu Christian School of West China University helped a lot. After 20 years in the giant panda producing area, an Englishman named "Panda King", Tangier Smith, bought nine live giant pandas during the three years from 1936 to 1938, and brought six of them to Britain.
During World War II, Ming, the giant panda in London Zoo, was calm and free to play under the indiscriminate bombing of German planes, and became a wartime hero in the eyes of London citizens. At the height of the war, newspapers were still reporting Ming's life. She died at the end of 1944. The obituary published in The Times said: "She can die without regret because she brought happiness to thousands of people." After the end of World War II, 1945 and 65438+February, the British organized a team of more than 200 people through diplomatic channels, went to Wenchuan for a big raid, and finally captured a giant panda and sent it to Britain. Like many things in China, the panda's status in China rose rapidly after it caused a sensation abroad. Since the 1940s, the government began to restrict the hunting activities of foreigners. Perhaps because of this, the giant panda survived.