From the Washington Post, Letter to the Editor:
In her April 10 op-ed column, “A Global Warm and Fuzzy Escape,” Anne Applebaum claimed that the births of giant panda Tai Shan and polar bear Knut symbolize “not success but failure.” She assumed little connection between them and the conservation of their species in the wild. At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, we know this is not true…
Last year 31 panda cubs were born, bringing to 225 the worldwide number of captive pandas; 300 are needed to maintain a population from which individual pandas could be introduced into the wild if the wild population were to catastrophically decline. Today, 59 reserves protect more than half the wild panda habitat…
U.S. zoos have contributed more than $30 million — from donations and merchandise sales — to panda conservation projects in China. Tai Shan and other giant pandas have delighted and inspired millions of visitors, have created a legion of new conservationists, and have cemented our commitment, and China’s, to conserving this wonderful species. [Full Text]
Related New York Times article: Eats Shoots, Leaves and Much of Zoos’ Budgets says, “Then there are the contracts, most lasting 10 years. Because China retains ownership of the pandas, zoos lease each pair for $1 million a year. If cubs are born, the annual fee increases by an average of $600,000. In addition, each zoo has agreed to pay another million or so each year to finance research and conservation projects in the United States and in China. Taken together, Mr. Kelly says, the contracts are worth more than $80 million to the Chinese government.”
