In the spring of 2023, news about "Giant pandas traveling in the United States were brutally abused by local zoos in the United States" suddenly exploded on the Chinese Internet.

Chinese netizens find it hard to believe that such a cute and honest giant panda could be cruelly abused by Americans!

For a time, the Chinese Internet was full of excitement. While netizens criticized the "cruel behavior" of American zoos on major websites, they also mobilized their own power to call on the country to pay attention to and protect pandas, vowing to save China's national treasure from the fire. , even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was alarmed.

Today, the situation has gradually stabilized, and the giant pandas in the United States have been successfully rescued and returned to China by Chinese netizens, and the whole matter has been resolved.

But even so, many netizens are still shocked by the reality that "giant pandas will suffer abuse."

After all, in the Chinese people's consistent impression, giant pandas are China's unique national treasures and extremely rare. After many years of protection, the population number is only more than 2,000.

It also has titles such as "China's National Animal", "World Wildlife Fund Image Ambassador", "World Biodiversity Conservation Flagship Species", etc. It is so glorious that it is one of the representatives of the earth's animals. It’s not an exaggeration, how could someone do such a “black hand” to giant pandas?

In fact, in the nearly 8 million years of history of giant pandas, they have only been famous for a few decades. But before that, the situation of giant pandas was not bad, and they were beaten by Europeans. Skinned, stolen by Americans, and hunted by locals, it was once only one step away from extinction...

The ancient ferocious beast "Giant Panda"

The giant panda, also called the cat bear, A bear that looks like a cat, with black and white hair and a plump body.

According to research by biologists and historians, giant pandas have existed on the earth for at least 8 million years. They are mainly distributed in central and southern China and parts of Southeast Asia. One of the "aboriginal people".

It is also one of the living fossils of the evolution of China’s geographical and ecological environment, and has extremely important research value.

(Giant panda life photos)

For this reason, giant pandas have become a frequent visitor in Chinese history. As early as the tribal period, China has already had contact with and domesticated giant pandas. record.

In the "Historical Records of the Five Emperors" written by the famous historian Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty, it was recorded that during the Yan-Huang War, Chi You, the leader of the Miao tribe in southern China, was good at taming animals.

Among his mounts, the most majestic, brave and good at fighting is a mythical beast called Pixiu, also known as the "Iron-eating Beast".

Later, according to the research of historians, the so-called "Pixiu" and "Iron-Eating Beast" were the ancient names of giant pandas.

Giant pandas, which now seem to be honest and cute, would have become "ancient ferocious beasts" that were brave and good at fighting after being tamed by dedicated people in ancient times. But unfortunately, after Chi You failed in the war with Huangdi, the method of taming giant pandas disappeared with Chi You.

On the other hand, because giant pandas mainly inhabit the harsh environment and inaccessible Sichuan Basin and Qinling Mountains, there were few records of giant pandas in Chinese history until after the Opium War in the late Qing Dynasty.

The humiliating Opium War caused the Chinese people to suffer for a hundred years, and the giant panda, which belongs to China alone, was also forced to endure this humiliation.

The Beginning of the Suffering

In June 1840, the British launched an unjust war of aggression against China under the pretext of "smoking opium at Humen", known in history as the "Opium War of 1840" ” and won victory from the decadent Qing government, thus opening the door to China.

Since then, people from all walks of life from various countries have come to China to explore the legendary "Celestial Kingdom", including Davide, a zoologist and botanist from France.

David was a member of the French Catholic Missionary Society. In 1862, he was sent to China by the church to explore and collect unique animal and plant materials in China, and brought them back to France for collection and research.

During the 26 years of living in China, David relied on his rich knowledge of animals and plants and his outdoor exploration ability to collect more than 200 species of animals, more than 800 species of birds, and hundreds of species of flowers, plants, and trees for China. and made outstanding contributions to the study of animals and plants in the world.

At the same time, and more importantly, David was also the discoverer of the giant panda and the first person in the world to conduct systematic research on the giant panda.

In March 1869, David went to conduct a scientific investigation near a church in Baoxing County, Ya'an City, Sichuan Province, China.

When he first arrived here, he learned from local residents and hunters that there was a black and white bear in the mountains near Baoxing County, which the locals called " White Bear", "Bamboo Bear", "Flower Bear", etc.

This aroused his great interest. He had never heard of such a creature. So, in the following days, David, with the help of local residents and hunters, made many attempts to find this creature. Explore a strange creature and collect its hair.

(Footprints of wild giant pandas)

Later, the wealthy David directly hired 20 local senior hunters to help him capture this black and white little bear.

Sure enough, in just a few days, the hunters sent David a "white bear", but unfortunately, the white bear had been killed by the hunters when it was delivered.

This made David very regretful, so in the following month, he followed the hunter he hired to capture the white bear. In the end, after more than 30 days of hard hunting, David really caught the white bear. To a live "white bear".

After taking good care of the white bear for a period of time, David realized that the little white bear he found was a species unique to China and different from all bears known to mankind. This discovery was enough to make him famous in history.

So, he decided to take the little white bear back to France and put it on display in a museum.

But unfortunately, due to the harsh environment and rugged roads in Sichuan, the little white bear died due to climate change and bumpy roads before leaving Sichuan.

In desperation, David had no choice but to peel off the skin of the little white bear and made it into a specimen and brought it back to the French Museum of Natural History for exhibition. For the first time, this strange creature that belongs to China has been revealed Show it to the world.

It was this exhibition that completely opened the tragic life of the giant panda.

Poaching by Europeans

In 1869, David made a "little white bear specimen" and exhibited it at the French Museum of Natural History.

(Paris Natural History Museum)

The appearance of this black and white panda caused a sensation all over Paris. Countless Paris citizens and the French natural history academic community have Come to the Museum of Natural History and see the "Little White Bear" up close.

During this exhibition, Edward, the curator of the French Museum of Natural History, believed that the "little white bear" is a creature between a cat and a bear, a new creature, and a new species. He was named "Cat Bear".

After the exhibition, the appearance of the cat panda caused a sensation. Countless adventurers and biologists from France and even Europe went to China, eager to capture a real, living cat panda, not a real one. A specimen made from its skin.

This almost became a phenomenon at the time, and was called "panda fever" by French natural historians.

(Specimens of Panda Dandan)

With the trend of panda fever, more and more adventurers and poachers have come to Baoxing County where David previously discovered pandas. He learned David's method of catching giant pandas, but ultimately failed.

Because the giant panda is still a ferocious beast in nature, it is extremely difficult to capture it alive.

What's more, giant pandas have extremely strict requirements for the environment. Once they are subject to bumps and changes in the environment, they will die soon.

So, in the decades after the outbreak of "Panda Fever", not a single giant panda could be brought out of Sichuan alive, and only furs and specimens could be brought out. However, Panda Fever It didn't stop there.

In Europe at that time, more and more nobles and capitalists began to flock to panda fur, and clothes and carpets made of panda fur were used as a symbol of wealth.

(plucked panda fur)

As the saying goes, there is no killing without buying and selling. Driven by capital, giant pandas who originally lived a comfortable and natural life in China were killed by Europeans. Moving to windows, floors, and even dining tables, the population of giant pandas has suffered a sharp decline.

After half a century of panda fever, natural biologists around the world have come to the realization that giant pandas are endangered creatures.

Given the uncontrolled theft and hunting of humans, giant pandas have disappeared from the earth.

As a result, in the 1930s, the panda craze gradually cooled down, and only a handful of natural biologists and explorers were still pursuing the giant panda.

The Living Panda

In 1936, Ruth from New York, USA, married her husband William.

William was a famous American explorer at the time. He had a long-cherished wish to capture a live giant panda and bring it back to the United States to show it to the world.

So, after marrying Ruth, he took Ruth to China to look for giant pandas. But unfortunately, just two weeks after arriving in China, William died of illness in Shanghai, China.

In order to fulfill her husband's long-cherished wish, Ruth chose to continue their journey and found a companion to go with her to Sichuan to continue searching for giant pandas.

In Sichuan, Ruth and her companions stayed in the mountains for nearly five months. Her daily work was nothing more than searching for traces of giant pandas from the local population and setting up traps. The rest of the time, she was waiting. Day after day of waiting.

They waited from the end of May to November. During this period, their food and money were about to run out, and their patience was running out.

But just when the two were about to give up, Ruth's companion found a panda cub that was about to freeze to death from a tree hole.

Then the two immediately took the panda out of Sichuan, back to Shanghai, and successfully brought it back to the United States.

During this period, Ruth and the panda cub experienced many hardships. For example, changes in the environment brought the panda to the verge of death several times, and Ruth almost failed to return to the United States due to lack of procedures, etc. .

(Panda Cubs)

But miraculously, they managed to return to the United States in the end.

While they were still wandering on the sea, Ruth and her companions sent the news back to New York that "they had caught a live giant panda and brought it back to the United States."

This news caused a sensation throughout the United States, and the entire United States was excited about the arrival of the giant pandas.

So when Ruth and the panda docked in San Francisco, the cheering American people crowded the pier to welcome the panda's arrival.

The local government arranged a grand welcome ceremony for the arrival of Ruth and the pandas, prepared the best residences and the best animal trainers for them, and ensured the safety of the pandas.

In the following months, Ruth took the pandas throughout major cities in the United States. Millions of Americans participated in this parade, amidst the crowds of people, just to see them. Get a glimpse of the adorable panda cubs.

After the parade, Ruth decided to auction the giant panda, and all the zoos in the United States that could be named participated in the auction.

In the end, the Brookfield Zoo from Chicago bought the giant panda at a "sky-high price" and put it on display.

During the exhibition, hundreds of thousands of Chicago citizens who came here almost crowded the threshold of Brookfield Zoo, and people were excited to see a living panda.

According to records at the time, more than 40,000 Chicagoans came to Brookfield Zoo to watch pandas in one day.

But unfortunately, Brookfield Zoo, as the first zoo in the world to raise giant pandas, has almost no experience in raising giant pandas.

Shortly after arriving at Brookfield Zoo, the giant panda died of overexertion at the age of more than one year old.

And, after its death, it was skinned and made into a specimen, which was permanently displayed in the museum.

On the other hand, with the appearance of surviving giant pandas in the United States, a new round of panda craze has arisen around the world.

Five years after 1936, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, etc., almost all major countries in the world at that time sent expedition teams to Sichuan, China, to capture giant pandas.

In the past five years, the United States alone has captured 9 giant pandas from China, brought them back to the United States, and sold them to local zoos as "gold-making" commodities.

In order to obtain a live giant panda, the United Kingdom even dispatched an expedition team of more than 200 people to China just to hunt giant pandas.

Under such hunting, the number of giant pandas has once again declined sharply, and the entire giant panda population is in danger and on the verge of extinction.

It was only then that the Kuomintang government belatedly listed the giant panda as a national rare species, prohibited them from being taken out of China, and restricted foreigners from hunting giant pandas. The sub-Panda fever has cooled down a bit.

However, under the temptation of capital, the price of giant pandas has remained high in the market. Although the poaching of giant pandas is prohibited on the surface, the poaching secretly is even more crazy. The continuation of the epidemic remained a serious problem until after the founding of New China.

Bright future

On October 1, 1949, New China was founded, and the Chinese people truly stood up in the world. Similarly, the giant panda, which had been poached for nearly a hundred years, has since stood up.

In 1950, New China sent a survey team to conduct a detailed investigation of the current situation of giant pandas in our country. The results were shocking: the western Yunnan region, which was once full of giant pandas, found it difficult to see giant pandas after the founding of the People's Republic of my country. Panda tracks.

In response, the Central People's Government immediately made a decision and promulgated the "Measures for the Protection of Rare Animals" to protect giant pandas at the national and legal levels.

Thirteen years after the promulgation of the "Measures", the number of giant panda populations is still in danger. In order to further save giant pandas, our country has established four giant panda protection bases in Sichuan, including Wolong and Baihe, to move giant pandas to Completely protected.

At the same time, the country has further cracked down on the poaching of giant pandas and organized professionals to establish organizations to specialize in the protection of giant pandas.

(Today’s Wolong Giant Panda Conservation Base)

To this day, China has made outstanding achievements in the protection of giant pandas.

According to the latest statistics, the global wild population of giant pandas has reached 1,864. The entire giant panda population is slowly recovering, and the threat level of the wild giant panda population has also been reduced from endangered to unusually endangered.

At the same time, due to years of research and cultivation in China, the number of giant pandas in captivity has reached 673, accounting for one-third of the wild population.

It can be said that under the leadership of the Party, with the support of the People’s Government, and with the efforts of countless Chinese people, the giant panda has completely distanced itself from its painful history and has completely become China’s national treasure. !

In addition, China also packages giant pandas that have been abused as national gifts and leases them to other countries to "collect debts."

(Panda Rental)

Foreigners’ love for giant pandas has not stopped since the 19th century. However, after New China legislated panda protection, foreigners wanted to acquire giant pandas again. It becomes as difficult as climbing a panda.

my country has a strict "Panda Leasing Contract" when it comes to leasing giant pandas. The contract stipulates that the leasing country must pay my country an annual rent ranging from US$500,000 to US$1 million per year, and must also pay for the leasing of giant pandas. The best living conditions must be created for the pandas who go out. The food, clothing, housing and transportation of pandas in other countries must be fully controlled by our country.

More importantly, if you want to rent pandas from China, you also need to have enough "sincerity", such as commercial orders and cultural exchange activities with China.

According to incomplete statistics, if a country wants to lease a panda for 10 years, the cost will be tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

For example, Scotland once expressed its willingness to lease pandas to China, and the sincerity brought by Scotland was various orders worth 2.6 billion pounds, which is converted into RMB 20 billion. This is The benefits giant pandas bring to China!

More importantly, no matter what the reason is, as long as there is a problem with the pandas, China can choose to terminate the contract at any time.

But even with such harsh conditions, major countries around the world are still eager to pursue pandas.

If the president of a certain country can rent a pair of giant pandas from China during his term of office, the president's support rate will rise significantly. This is a panda! This is the treatment China’s national treasures deserve!

Summary

As China’s national treasure, the fate of the giant panda is closely related to the fate of the Chinese people. When China was humiliated by the great powers, the pandas became a commodity in the hands of the great powers. Being abused and arrested.

When China became truly powerful, the fate of the panda family also prospered. It can be seen that the prosperity of pandas today is the prosperity of the Chinese nation!