The longevity of large Pandas represents an existential problem for China
Americans love panda reels, but the feeling pulls deep in China
In the West, videos of pandas basically failing at life is endlessly entertaining. Pandas falling from trees, rolling down hills. The cuteness of a panda eating bamboo and being cuddled by caregivers touches hearts. For the Chinese government and people, it poses a bit of an existential question.
The large panda native to China is on nature's short list for extinction. Basically, pandas have lost their bear skills. Defense, balance, hunting, procreation, and caring for the young are all tasks which humans provide to protect the species from extinction. Large pandas require the number one apex predator to remain on earth. It is a bad day for an animal when its survival rests in the hands of humankind.
The panda is not represented in the Chinese zodiac, but it is the national symbol of China. For the Chinese government, panda extinction presents a perception issue. The national spirit animal's potential decimation indicates an incapability by the PRC and CCP to ensure China's prosperity.
As a result, the Chinese government invests an estimated $255 million into the protection, and care of large pandas. Mostly, Pandas stopped procreating naturally, the truest indicator for extinction. Millions goes into mood music and other formulas to encourage copulation. Since adult females neglect their young, the babies require hand feeding. Human's dress-up in panda costumes to acclimate growing pandas to the wilderness for release in monitored, national forests.
It might be less suggestive if China, as a government and people, were known for extensive animal activism. China's wildlife trade market is known for medicines and aesthetic goods from ivory, rhino horn to tiger parts. The attention and money the government and people place into pandas shows the intangible value of the animal.
The Chinese government’s efforts for panda longevity does come with controversy. The needs of farmers and locals are deprioritized over panda conservatories in rural areas. In Sichuan province the concept of a 'panda village' aims to reconcile economic problems for people while protecting pandas in its natural forest habitat.
The panda is akin to a spirit animal for the Chinese people. One could argue the love of the panda is on a higher plane than even respected zodiac animals. Certain zodiac signs can be killed or eaten. An existential question arises over the panda's plight for Chinese society. Does the panda's grim destiny foreshadow a genre of extinction for Chinese prosperity, culture or even the people themselves?
The 1-child only birthing policies (1980-2016) lend credence to the worry. Baby males were preferred at the time, which left female babies in graves or adopted abroad. A species can survive with few males to many females, not the other way around. The PRC and CCP are tripping over the serious side effects and negative perceptions of today’s population decline in China. The panda is a symbolic bastion of hope.
Aptly nicked named Panda Diplomacy, the Chinese government makes offers to lend its large pandas to other nations’ zoos. It is a positive important gesture because it reflects the pride of the Chinese government and people. Non-renewal or abrupt extraction of Chinese pandas on loan to foreign zoos indicates political relationships gone awry.
There is speculation that Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were pulled from the Smithsonian National Zoo in 2023 after 20 years in country over political tensions between the USG and PRC. In February 2024, President Xi Jin Ping offered to send pandas to San Diego's Zoo as a good measure, even mentioning in a speech the American people's expression of love for China's pandas.
The American sentiment for animals is not quite the same relationship as animal spirituality found in some African, Native American, Polynesian, or Asian cultures. If our beloved American bald eagle became extinct, would Americans see an existential crisis or a national tragedy?
Likely, Elon Musk would commission a flock of robotic bald eagles with chips connecting to Starlink Satellites. If anything, the ingenuity of smarter, faster, and tech AI-bald eagle fleet might lift the American spirit. Not a bad idea, nonetheless.
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