When love is a black-and-white issue

By Xiao Changyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-08 07:49

Most people think of the giant panda as a national treasure that can only be seen behind high fences.

But panda adopters get the chance to get much closer to these endangered animals - close enough, to give them big bear hugs.

The Wolong Panda Club is calling for more people to adopt pandas, since the Sichuan province-based Wolong Nature Reserve has fallen on tough times in the wake of the May 12 earthquake.

Chengdu Research and Breeding Base of Giant Pandas chief Zhang Zhihe says now is the direst time for the base since it opened in 1987.

"It is even more difficult than it was after the SARS outbreak," he says.

When love is a black-and-white issue

"Sichuan's bamboo forests were seriously damaged by the quake, causing bamboo prices to rise, while the base has been receiving far fewer visitors."

A $6,000 donation to the Wolong Panda Club allows an individual or group to adopt a panda for a year, and lifelong adoption options also exist, varying in price according to individual animals' needs.

Adopters receive a panda pin, copies of the semiannual Panda Club Magazine, an annual Panda Club gift and free admission to the Wolong Panda Garden for the adopter and 10 guests. In addition, they will receive regular updates on the growth and development of the animal they sponsor.

They can also enjoy free photo opportunities with the cuddly creature in the garden.

The club's president Huang Yan says few people are aware they can adopt a panda, and only two of 14 born last year at Ya'an Bi Feng Xia Resort have found sponsors. Chengdu's pandas haven't fared much better.

Most of the Wolong Panda Club's animals' "foster parents" are from Japan and the United States.

The Shangri-la Hotel and Resort is among the few companies in Chengdu to heed the call, sponsoring a 1-year-old female named Xiang Xiang, born in Wolong in 2007.

She also endured the devastation of May and afterward moved to Ya'an Bi Feng Xia Resort - a temporary post-quake home for Wolong pandas.

Hotel staff visited Xiang Xiang's new home this September to celebrate her first birthday. They brought milk powder, balls, a swing and other toys for the reserve's cubs.

The company also launched a "We Love Pandas" project to promote donations, make souvenirs and organize visitors to the resort.

"It's time to call upon people to pay more attention to these lovely animals and do something for them," Shangri-la Hotel Chengdu general manager George Yang says.

All but seven of 62 surviving pandas in Wolong, one of the most important habitats for the species in China, have been relocated. It will take an estimated 5 years to rebuilding the reserve.

(China Daily 01/08/2009 page20)