Panda at the zoo. Pandas in the Moscow Zoo. Origami panda from two-tone black and white paper

Giant Panda (Black and White Catfoot, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, bamboo bear, in English: Giant Panda) is a large mammal of the order of predators, the bear family, the habitat is the valley in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the mountainous regions in Central China, the symbol of which is this animal, as well as the World Wildlife Fund - WWF (World Wildlife Fund). Panda is an endangered species, so they are listed in the Red Book. At the moment, there are only 1,600 individuals that live in natural conditions, and about the same number are kept in zoos. 217 animals are in the Center for Study and Protection giant pandas, whose scientists are making every effort to save this species. Average length The head and body of a panda is 1.2-1.6 m. Height at the withers is 60-80 cm. Weight ranges from 75 to 160 kg.

Little legend about Giant Panda

"Black glasses" and a charming appearance provided the pandas with not only recognition and wide popularity, but also universal love. In China, there is a legend that explains the unusual color of these animals. That legend says that in ancient times, a family of shepherds settled on a mountain slope. Every morning the shepherds took their flock of sheep to graze next to the bamboo thickets, where the white panda came to play with them. But one day a wild leopard attacked a peacefully grazing herd. All the sheep fled in fear, and only the little panda did not have time to hide, because. couldn't run fast. wild leopard was already sneaking up on his victim, and the panda would not have escaped the sad fate, if not for the young shepherdess who grabbed a stick and drove the terrible beast away from little panda. But the shepherdess herself suffered greatly from the predator and died from wounds received in the battle. Upon learning that the young girl paid with her life for the life of their brother, the pandas wept bitterly and began to sprinkle ashes on themselves in honor of mourning for the deceased. The grief of the pandas was very great. Wiping away tears and comforting each other, they left black spots from the ashes on their snow-white skins. Since then, all pandas have been mourning for the brave girl.

Classification

In the future, exacting scientists could not classify pandas for a long time, because. these unique animals have an unusual anatomy, the signs of which include not only the bear family, but also the raccoon ones. As a result, the place of pandas in the classification of the animal world was determined by paleontologists. Australian paleontologist E. Tennius put an end to the controversy by conducting a series of studies. Through morphological, biochemical, cardiological and ethological analysis, he proved that giant pandas are in fact bears, because according to 16 features, they belong specifically to bears, and only 5 to raccoons and red pandas. He also identified 12 traits that are unique to giant pandas. After the discoveries of Tennius, pandas began to be attributed to bears, i.e. to the Ursidae family.

Not so long ago, namely in 2008, a scientific project was launched at the Beijing Institute of Genomics, the subject of which is panda DNA. Scientists from five countries took part in this project. They established that giant panda 20-30 thousand genes, and its genome is 68% identical to the human genome. The giant panda has 42 chromosomes (21 pairs), most of which are metacentric, while the rest of the bears have 74 acrocentric. However, there are still many questions that a group of scientists hopes to find answers to: why pandas eat bamboo and whether it is possible to change their meager diet and why pandas breed so poorly.

Appearance

In appearance, the black and white panda resembles a bear. The coloration of these animals is very specific - White color fur diluted with black on the ears, legs and shoulders, as well as around the eyes creates the effect of "black points". Scientists believe that this unique coloration is due to the natural habitat in which such "camouflage" provided camouflage and protection in the rocks covered with patches of snow. Thick wool perfectly warms animals in the cool forests of their habitat. The jaws of pandas are strongly muscled and equipped with molars.

Pandas have short and thick hind legs. There are smooth pads on the soles, as well as at the base of the toes, that comfortably hold the bamboo stalks. Usually, the animal breaks off young shoots of bamboo with its front paws and methodically eats its favorite delicacy: leaves, shoots and stems. A feature of the structure of panda paws is the sixth finger, which acts as a thumb, as well as the presence of a rather long tail for bears, which can grow up to 12 cm. Chinese scientists have found that in ancient times pandas were not so large animals. The discovery of the skull of an ancient panda, discovered by them in southern China, proved that earlier pandas were one and a half times smaller.

panda skeleton

The panda skeleton has several features that still baffle scientists. If you look closely at the skeleton of a panda, you can see that the ribs look too small for the huge chest of this amazing animal. But more interesting are the structural features of the forelimbs. Short forearms, the ulna (lower part of the forearm) protrudes too much in the proximal (located closer to the center of the body or to its median plane) section. A similar feature is found in monkeys, helping them to swing and jump from tree to tree. Scientists suggest that this helps the panda gnaw on the tough bamboo stems. But this is just one of the hypotheses. Scientists do not have an exact explanation for the small lower limbs of the panda, the structure of which is very different from the structure of the paws of grizzlies or polar bears.

"Thumb" (feature of the structure of the paw)

Worthy of special attention distinguishing feature pandas, which distinguishes these animals from other varieties of bears even more than their unusual appearance. Giant pandas have unusual front paws, with a "thumb" and five regular fingers. Bare pads are well developed on the soles and at the base of each toe, making it easier to hold the smooth bamboo stalks. The panda's famous "thumb" is actually a modified sesamoid carpal bone. Sesamoid bones are bones that are located in the thickness of the tendons and usually lie on the surface of other bones.

Thanks to this peculiar “finger”, the panda can easily handle even the thinnest bamboo shoots, grab onto branches and perform a number of other actions that are inaccessible to other types of bears. Captive pandas can hold balls and enamel and aluminum bowls with their front paws, waiting to be filled with food. The “grasping” structure of the forelimb allows even adult massive pandas to climb to the very top of the trees. Climbing abilities are used by these amazing animals for a variety of purposes - in this way they navigate the terrain, escape from danger, taste young shoots, or just have fun. Sometimes they climb up to rest.

Habitat (where it lives)

Supercontinent: Afro-Eurasia.
Mainland: Eurasia.
Continent: Asia.
A country: China.
Provinces: Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi.

Pandas live in forests among dense thickets of bamboo in the mountains at altitudes from 1200 to 3900 m. As a rule, pandas descend to lower altitudes during the cold season. There they provide themselves with food and shelter. Each panda acquires his own personal territory, which he marks on the border trees.

Despite the fact that pandas are carnivores, their diet is mostly vegetarian. It consists of shoots, leaves and stems of bamboo. It should be noted that pandas are very fond of eating - up to 16 hours a day, food is their pastime. This is because, in order to maintain body weight, pandas need great amount bamboo. Of all the swallowed plant food, these unusual animals absorb only 17%.

The Xiaoxinming, Daxiangling, Qulaishan and Minshan Mountains, located in the Chinese province of Sichuan, form a kind of corridor that stretches from the eastern end of the Tibetan Plateau to the Qin Ling Range in Shanxi. On this strip of land is the last home of the pandas, because. only there remained bamboo forests that had previously grown as far as northern Vietnam and northern Myanmar.

List of zoos with giant pandas

Europe

Schönbrunn Zoo, Austria;

Madrid Zoo, Spain;

Edinburgh Zoo, UK (Scotland);

Berlin Zoo, Germany;

Beauval Zoo, Saint-Aignan, France;

Asia

Research and development center in Chengdu, China

Kobe Oji Zoo, China;

Bei Jing Zoo, China;

Wolong Panda Breeding Center, Sichuan Province, China (temporarily closed)

Ocean Park, Hong Kong;

River Safari, Singapore;

Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand;

Taipei Zoo, Taiwan;

Ueno Zoo, Tokyo, Japan;

Shiragama Amusement Park, Japan;

North America

Memphis Zoo(USA). Video camera: http://www.memphiszoo.org/pandacam.

Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington(USA): http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/.

Zoo in San Diego(USA). Video camera: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/.

Toronto Zoo, Canada;

South America

Zoo in Mexico City, Mexico;

Australia

Adelaide Zoo, Australia;

Why pandas are dying out

Friends, we recently received some good news that the giant panda is no longer an endangered species. However, pandas remain a vulnerable species and the problem of panda extinction is still relevant.

The main reason for the extinction of pandas is the degradation and reduction of their habitat due to anthropogenic pressure. Due to significant deforestation of bamboo forests, the habitats of giant pandas are constantly shrinking. In addition, illegal logging is often carried out, which increases the damage done to Chinese forests. At the moment, this has led to the fact that panda settlements have become clustered - small and isolated from each other, and moving to new healthy panda thickets is becoming more and more difficult.

Also, natural causes also affect the reduction in the habitat of giant pandas: bamboo thickets periodically die out, and they are prevented from spreading to new places. human activity, which uses an increasing area of ​​land for cultivation. Thus, peaceful peasants settled new areas in mountain valleys, cleared forest areas for fields and gardens. As a result, a single array of bamboo forests broke up into separate islands, which were able to shelter only a small number of giant pandas. Previously, when there were enough bamboo forests, pandas migrated to where there are healthy thickets. However, now many ways of their movement are interrupted. settlements which pandas cannot cross due to their very secluded and quiet lifestyle.

Small groups of animals, cut off from their relatives, became doomed to interbreeding with each other, which always leads to gradual degeneration. Once upon a time, giant pandas inhabited the entire "bamboo belt" of China. At the moment, they have survived only in Sichuan province - an area whose length is only 300 kilometers. Due to the fact that the inhabitants of small bamboo islands simply had nowhere to go, in the mid-1970s, due to the simultaneous death of several species of bamboo, 124 giant pandas died of starvation.

After that tragedy, the Chinese authorities took up the rescue of these rare animals, which have become a kind of symbol of the country. Natural reserves began to be organized, covering all the habitats of giant pandas. At the moment, there are 40 protected forests in China.

The birth of weak, unprotected down and blind cubs and a small litter can also affect the slow growth of the population.

Another reason for the extinction of pandas is poaching. At a time when they learned about giant pandas in Europe and they aroused great interest, hunters for rare animals began the wholesale extermination of pandas. They made stuffed animals and got expensive fur. Pandas were also hunted by local poachers. The fact is that the skin of a panda is discounted at two or three times the average annual income of one Chinese peasant, and therefore poaching was a serious problem some time ago. However, as a result of increased education and the inclusion of the giant panda in the Red Book, the intensity of poaching has significantly decreased.

Behavior

Pandas prefer to be active at dusk. Morning for them is the time when you can sit in the shade or lie down. Basically, pandas spend their lives on the ground, but if necessary, they can easily climb trees. Pandas are one of those animals that do not acquire their own home, because. they find shelter in caves or among thickets of forests. Pandas are clean animals. In between rest and food, they devote a lot of time to their appearance, clean and wash themselves for a long time. However, they do not like to swim and get caught in the rain, from which they hide in their shelters.

A panda's pose can tell a lot about her intentions. If the animal shows humility, then it puts its head between the front paws, sometimes even closing its eyes with its paws. Pandas behave in a completely different way if their mood is aggressive: then they lower their heads down and look frowningly directly at the enemy.

Adult pandas are famous for their unusual poses. They can sit as if in a chair, imitating it, leaning back on a tree trunk or other surface, and putting their paws on some kind of ledge. As a rule, such a position is used by them at the moments of taking up their toilet, or simply in order to take a nap. A big misconception is that pandas are considered clumsy and slow. Provided that they are in danger from predators, a panda can easily roll down a mountain or quickly run away. Pandas have powerful claws that grow up to 4 cm, which can be used as a weapon against opponents.

Although pandas prefer a solitary lifestyle, they also have to communicate with each other. They do this with the help of a certain set of sounds, and for different situations each sound is different. If the panda is in pain or shows submission, then the sound that it makes at the same time resembles a squeal. In the process of mating, pandas “chirp” like a bird, and in moments of danger they make sounds resembling a goose cry. "Goat" bleating should be regarded as an invitation to communicate in a friendly manner, and champing serves as a signal of a retaliatory threat.

Smells are a special means of communication, with the help of which pandas let others know about something. They even have special places where they leave their messages, and also come to read the "messages" of their fellows. Surprisingly, pandas have a tool that allows them to arouse sympathy. The fact is that pandas, with the help of their sweat glands, have the ability to secrete a special secret containing pheromones. This helps pandas very well in case of danger, because. volatile compounds that control neuroendocrine behavioral responses reduce the level of aggression. The same scientists explain the love for these animals, which arises in everyone who at least once in their life has experienced the effect of the secret, multiplied by the natural charm of pandas.

Acquaintance and reproduction

Pandas are very picky animals when it comes to choosing a partner. A panda will never mate if she does not like the intended partner. The mating season of giant pandas lasts two and a half months - mid-March to May. During this period, the animals are looking for a mate. 4-5 males can apply for one female. However, as soon as mating has taken place, the animals return to their former solitary lifestyle. Females are extremely demanding of males, besides, they allow partners to approach them for no more than 48 hours throughout the year. Observations of pandas living in captivity have shown that 50% of males and females show absolutely no interest in members of the opposite sex, and only 10% have had sexual contact at least once in their lives. Zhang Hemin, co-author of Giant Pandas: Biology, Treatment and Care, who is the director of the Wolong Nature Reserve, came up with an ingenious solution to this problem. He suggested that the pandas watch special "porn" for these animals, which emphasized the sounds. The experiment was a success, the pandas of the Wolong Reserve began to breed. Previous attempts to increase fertility in pandas, which consisted in the fact that they tried to force males to perform their "marital duties", like feeding "Viagra", were not crowned with success.

Birth and childhood

After mating, an average of 135 days pass before the birth of a cub. The female has one to three babies. But the cubs are born so helpless, and caring for them is so hard, that the panda usually raises only one. At birth, the cub weighs no more than 150 g, and reaches a length of no more than 17 cm. The baby is born blind and without wool cover. In zoos, zookeepers have come up with a special trick: they leave only one baby to the female, changing it for another every few days. So it is possible to feed both babies with mother's milk.

Pandas are very caring and affectionate mothers. They cradle their "babies", swaying them in their arms, pressing them to their chest, showing their maternal love and care in every possible way. Feeding babies can occur up to 14 times a day, so the first few days the mother panda does not leave her lair. The duration of each feeding session is up to 30 minutes. Pandas' eyes open 3 weeks after birth, and fur grows back by the end of the first month. From the age of three months, the panda cub begins to walk independently, and from the age of five it switches to a bamboo diet. Pandas stay with their mothers from one and a half to three years, but reach puberty only by the age of six.

people among pandas

In 1996, in one of the regions of China, hunters accidentally caught a child covered in wool and behaving like a panda. The child was found among these animals. The boy was born with numerous deviations in genetics. The body was covered with thick hair. Apparently, this allowed the pandas to take a human child for their own and raise it.

They raised the panda child according to their own ideas, so he moved exclusively on all fours, licked himself, and ate bamboo shoots. Apart from a few minor differences, the panda boy behaved exactly like his “adoptive parents”.

After the child was settled among people in a foster family, for some time he continued to behave like his former caregivers. However, after a while the boy began to adopt human habits and skills, learned to stand and speak. Then he was taken to the Beijing Institute for research.

attack on a person

Despite the widespread belief that pandas are safe and peaceful, there have been cases aggressive behavior towards a reasonable person.

Do not forget that giant pandas are bears, and bears are omnivorous wild animals from the predatory order that are not averse to protecting their territory and offspring.

Introduction to Europe

For the first time the world learned about these cute animals in 1869. David Armand, a French missionary who traveled to Mongolia, Tibet and China and collected rich zoological collections on his journey, returned to his homeland and demonstrated in Paris the skin of an unprecedented black and white bear, which was placed in the Museum of Natural History. However, bringing the skin of an unknown animal to the West is one thing, but proving that it really exists is another matter entirely. Many European scientists were convinced that such a large beast simply could not exist in wildlife. The unusual color of an unknown animal also caused great doubts. Many were convinced that the skin shown by Armand was the result of the work of skilled craftsmen who sewed several skins together, and thus obtained such a result.

But David Armand did not give up. He proved to the world that the skin he brought back belonged to a real animal. He undertook another journey to the east and presented the skeleton of a panda to the western world, accompanied by the hunter's story by which the panda was caught.

Pandas and Russia

In Russia, the first panda appeared in 1957 in the Moscow Zoo. The first panda was called Ping-pin. Soon the zoo acquired another panda named An-an. The attendants of the Moscow zoo wanted to create a couple and wait for offspring from their new pets in the future. However, it turned out that An-an is also a male. And only after 4 years, the Chinese authorities helped Moscow and picked up a female named Chi-chi. However, this was not successful either. Either Chi-chi did not like the partners, or the lack of attraction to individuals of the opposite sex, characteristic of pandas living in captivity, affected. And the bride was sent back.

Panda in Russian, and how to properly name panda children!

PANDA, -y, wives. Mammal family raccoon. (at that time the panda was considered an individual of the raccoon family) Small p., Big p. (bamboo bear).

| adj. panda, th, th.

Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949-1992

As we can see, from dictionaries, in particular from Ozhegov's dictionary, the word "panda" is declined. However, this word is not in word-building dictionaries. Therefore, the suffix formations of the names of panda cubs, according to the classical scheme: root + onok / ok, such as " pandenok", « pandas", considered non-literary. The correct names for panda babies are: panda cubs, panda cub and panda bear cub, panda cubs (similar to grizzly bear), since the panda is now classified as a member of the bear family.

origin of name

The first mention of the giant panda in literature occurred more than 3,000 years ago in the Book of History and the Book of Songs. In these books, the animal was called pi and pixiu. The panda later appeared in the first Chinese dictionary, Er Ya, in the Classic of Seas and Mountains, and in the Annotated Readings of the Book of Songs. In those books, the panda was referred to as mo, zhi yi and bai hu and described as white fox, white leopard and an animal like a tiger or polar bear. In later sources, the panda received new names again and again: meng shi shou (predator), shi ti shou (iron-eating animal) and zhu xiong (bamboo bear). Until now, the origin is controversial. Scholars cannot agree on what it is: a ribbon bear (huaxiong), a cat bear (maoxiong), a bear-like cat (xiongmao), or a great panda (daxiongmao).

It is believed that the word "panda" has a common root with the Nepalese ponya - kneecap. The authors of the hypothesis believe that such an association could arise when observing an animal at the time of their meal. Others are inclined to believe that the word "panda" was born from the Nepalese name for the red panda wah, derived from the loud sound that came from the sounds made periodically by these animals. But the answer remains a mystery.

Panda as a media character

The giant panda, with a very distinctive color and appearance, is not only a natural heritage, but also a source of aesthetic consumption. Various artists and directors exploit the image of the panda, using it in their projects.

Pandaria is an entire fictional continent, the game world of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria:

Panda from the cartoon "Tekken Blood Vengeance» (Tekken Blood Vengeance):

Poe from Kung Fu Panda:

The main character of the anime "Polar Bear Cafe" is also a panda:

"Big Panda and Little Panda" (Panda, Go, Panda! 1972)

Ilya Sysoev - Panda from the series "Gamers"

Documentaries about the panda

Bear. The Bear: Spy in the Woods (2004)
(produced by the BBC, Steve Bunce)
Thanks to the spy video camera, we were able to capture unprecedented moments of the fascinating life of one of the mysterious and popular groups of animals. The star of the picture is a giant panda in the Wildlife background. You can learn about how this creature behaves and feels in a huge bear family. Compared to the life of brown and polar bear, the panda's lifestyle is a stark contrast. A deep study of wildlife life will introduce the viewer to a no less famous animal - a spectacled bear, which is the only one in South America bear representative. You can see how grizzlies catch salmon, in the forests of Minnesota we will watch black bears and their offspring climbing trees. Never in your life have you had the chance to get to know real bears so closely.

The world of nature. Sleeping Dragon Pandas / The Natural World. Pandas of the Sleeping Dragon (1994)
(produced by BBC, Liz Leidler, Keith Leidler)
The bamboo forests of Central China are home to many species of rare and unusual animals. Our film will tell the viewer about those who inhabit China's main panda reserve - the Sleeping Dragon Reserve. "Sleeping Dragon" is the poetic name of the largest Chinese nature reserve for pandas. A great opportunity to get acquainted with the unique species of these "bamboo bears", find out what happens to be a giant panda, a red panda, a water dragon, a bamboo rat...

Giant panda. Pandas on the loose / Giant Panda. Pandas in the Wild (2009)
(produced by National Geographic, Japan, China, Tatsuhiko Kobayashi)
A group of Japanese and Chinese filmmakers who spent a year and a half in the Quinlin Mountains in southwest China managed to make a unique film about one of the rarest animals on Earth - giant pandas. Humid climate this harsh mountainous region creates ideal conditions for the growth of bamboo - a plant that is the basis of the panda's diet. Giant pandas consume up to 18 kilograms of bamboo daily, it takes them 12-14 hours. The rest of the time pandas sleep. For the first time, viewers will see footage of these amazing animals during courtship games and mating, and will be able to watch how a female panda carefully cares for her newly born baby, which weighs just over 100 grams.

Giant Pandas: The Last Refuge (1994)
(produced by National Geographic, Mark Stoffer)
Together with a group of researchers from the National Geographical Society you can go on an amazing journey to Central China, to the Chin Ling mountains, where a rare representative of local fauna- big panda. You have a unique opportunity to be in the closed world of these animals, whose population is on the verge of extinction. You will witness the life of a young panda, from the very first days of her life to a more mature age. This is a touching story of a panda mother and her little daughter traveling through forest thickets and snow-capped mountains. Many of the frames that you are about to see were first filmed by scientists. This film is the first step on the way of acquaintance of a person with these charming creatures, which can teach us all a lesson of amazing kindness and tenderness...

Stamps

Origami panda from two-tone black and white paper

It is almost impossible to meet Giant pandas in nature, they live only in some high-mountainous regions of China. But thanks to the fact that China rents out its bamboo bears, you can see them in zoos in other countries.

We have compiled our own ranking of pandas living in various zoos around the world.

1. The oldest panda. Germany, Berlin, Zoologischer Garten
Under natural conditions, pandas live for 20 years, and Berlin's Bao-Bao is already almost 34! He can definitely be called a European, because he has been in Berlin since 1980. Now pandas cannot go abroad for permanent residence, zoos rent them from China for a period of 10 years and pay $1 million per year for a pair of bears.
Flight Moscow-Berlin from 7,210 RUB (direct flights).

2. The newest pandas in Europe. France, St. Enyan , ZooParc de beauval
Yuan Tzu (Fat Man) and Huan Huan (Merry Man) flew to France in January of this year on a special Panda Express flight. Boeing 777F, adorned with a giant panda portrait, was greeted by officials and hundreds of journalists. During the 11 hours of flight, the pandas not only chewed up a bunch of bamboo and 50 kg of fruit, but also began to learn French J
Flight Moscow-Paris from 10 450 RUB

3. The wealthiest pandas. USA, Washington, National Zoological Park
Businessman David Rubinstein has donated $4.5 million to a program to help pandas have babies. Pandas are known to be reluctant to breed in captivity. Even the "bear pornography" that is shown to animals to restore interest in sex does not help. Maybe a tidy sum would be more effective?
Flight Moscow-Washington 24 920 RUB

4. The most large pandas. Austria Vienna Tier garden Sch ö nbrunn . USA, Atlanta, Zoo Atlanta .
Despite the "breeding difficulties", some couples even in captivity manage to give birth to 2-3 cubs. Parents with many children live in the zoos of Atlanta and Vienna. By the way, panda cubs are born tiny and helpless. The weight of a newborn is only 100-150 grams, while an adult bear weighs more than 100 kg. Well, how can you imagine that this pink, bald, blind animal is a panda cub?
Flight Moscow-Vienna from 7 750 RUB

5. The most mischievous pandas. Spain Madrid, Zoo Aquarium de Madrid .
Twin pandas Po and De-De were also born in captivity. Now they are almost 2 years old. Two cubs are not at all bored: they run, frolic, fight. In general, very active and positive kids!
Flight Moscow-Madrid from 10 500 RUB

6. Pandas with the longest queue. Japan Tokyo, Ueno Zoo
pandas Ri-Ri and Shin-Shin moved to Tokyo last year. Three thousand people lined up at the zoo before their first show! Pandas are so popular that the number of visitors in 2011 exceeded 4 million.
Flight Moscow-Tokyo from 22 830 RUB

7. The most media pandas. UK, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Zoo
The pandas at Edinburgh Zoo are also basking in the glory. Their acclimatization in the UK was followed by so much media that the female Sweetie (Tyan-Tyan) was included in the list of the most talked about women of 2011 according to the channelBBC. In Scotland, in honor of the pandas, they created a special tartan coloring (a checkered pattern on the fabric), and also launched a line of dairy products.
Flight Moscow-Edinburgh from 7 050 RUB

8. The most affectionate panda. Thailand , Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai Z oo
The other day she turned 3 years old. As you know, all bear cubs born abroad belong to China and, upon reaching 3 years of age, must move to their historical homeland. But little Lin Ping fell in love with almost the entire Thai population, so her departure was delayed for another year.
Flight Moscow-Bangkok from 18 050 RUB

9. The most voracious pandas. China, Chengdu , Center for the Study and Breeding of Pandas ( China Conservation & Research Center for the Giant Panda)
All pandas are very lazy and at the same time very gluttonous. An adult panda can chew bamboo 14 hours a day. There have been cases when a panda ate 40 kg of young bamboo shoots in one sitting! Recently, however, Chinese scientists discovered that bamboo lacks nutrients and decided to diversify the diet of pandas with wholemeal tortillas. The cakes went with a bang!J

To the question In what cities of Russia there are pandas (zoos, circus or something similar ...) ??? given by the author Dmitry Kibisov the best answer is There are none! Sometimes they were brought to Moscow, but only on trips.
Because China forbids exporting them forever, there is only the possibility of literally "renting" them - for solid money, of course - a million dollars! + subject to adequate content and for a strictly specified period of time (exactly 1 year).
Here, read about pandas when they were in Moscow:
The twentieth century
In 1957, the giant panda first settled in Russia, in a special house on the territory of the Moscow Zoo. It was a large male named Ping-Ping. And in the summer of 1959, they managed to acquire a second copy, according to the plan, in pair with Ping-Ping. His name was An-An, but, unfortunately, he was also a male. So two handsome beans lived in Moscow. In 1961, an Austrian merchant brought a large group of African animals to China and exchanged them for a young female giant panda named Chi-Chi. With this "zoological star", as one of the prominent English zoologists called it, the owner of Chi-Chi arrived in England, where he sold it to the London Zoological Society for huge money. In 1966, the British proposed to the Moscow Zoo to connect the Moscow cavalier An-An with Chi-Chi. They agreed, and the overseas bride arrived from London to Moscow by special plane. She was placed in a transport "carriage" made of plexiglass, non-ferrous metals and plastic. This extraordinary guest was met by zoologists, employees of the Moscow Zoo, employees of the British Embassy and a great many correspondents. One of them said jokingly: "I often go to international airport the capital, but they have not yet met a single prime minister. ”And indeed, there was a lot of noise.
Chi-Chi lived at the Moscow Zoo for six months, but did not befriend An-An and was sent back. In 1968, the experiment was repeated. This time, An-An flew to visit Chi-Chi. In London, he lived for six months and also to no avail. But, as you know, there is a blessing in disguise: both meetings, although they did not give the desired result, helped us to better understand the features of the biology of giant pandas. For example, no one suspected that animals that are good-natured in appearance and completely gentle in character can be very aggressive under certain circumstances. Sometimes between our heroes there were even violent fights. I had to separate them with the help of hoses, blank shots from hunting rifles, and also use special peaks and shields made of thick plywood. When attacking and defending, the animals showed great dexterity and techniques typical of predators: grabbing the enemy with their front paws, powerful blows with their paws on the head of the enemy, swift ramming with their entire body weight, grasping with their teeth, and so on.
Twenty first century
The visit of bamboo bears to Russia took place as part of the Days of Beijing in Moscow in the summer of 2001. Ben-Ben is a male, he celebrated his fourth birthday in Moscow on July 24, Wen-Ven is a female, she is nine years old.
(it with)
And here are the links - where there are pandas in the world's zoos - see. on - in Berlin and Vienna, for example - this is one of those places that are closer. and here is the list:
1. Schönbrunn Zoo (German: Tiergarten Schönbrunn), Austria;
2. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (hereafter Chengdu Panda Base), China;
3. Atlanta Zoo (USA);
4. Panda Breeding Center in Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, China (Wolong National Nature Reserve) - temporarily closed;
5. Adelaide Zoo, Australia (Adelaide Zoo);
6. Kobe Oji Zoo, China;
7. Madrid Zoo, Spain;
8. Edinburgh Zoo, UK (Scotland);
9. Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand;
10. Bei Jing Zoo, China;
11. Memphis Zoo, USA;
12. Ocean Park, Hong Kong;
13.
Natalia
Higher intelligence
(131262)
In China itself, of course, there are more opportunities to see them)

If someone asks me: “What is the cutest animal you have ever seen?”, then I will answer without any pause: “Pandas!” And try to disagree with me))) Yes, I won’t argue that there are many unusual and funny animals in the world, for example Proboscis monkeys, which I visited in reserve Bako on the island of Borneo. But you must admit, basically everyone is touched by the cubs of animals, and when the animal grows up, it becomes not so funny anymore. This is not the case with pandas. This black and white bear attracts attention until old age and makes you cross the seas and oceans in the hope of seeing him. On my big Asian trip, I went to the north of Thailand - to Chiang Mai. To see a panda. And there were three of them!

Meet the boy Chuang-Chuang, the girl Lin Hui and their cub Lin Ping, who was born in the Chiang Mai Zoo.

Info-tablet at the cage with a panda boy.
Information board at the cage with a panda girl.
Here is such a mimic was born in a zoo in Chiang Mai.

IN natural environment pandas live only in China and the main habitat is the province of Sechuan. Pandas are vegetarians and eat bamboo. During the expansion of agricultural land, the Chinese cut down bamboo thickets, thereby reducing the diet of these bears. When they realized it, it was already too late, the population was seriously reduced and now there are about one and a half thousand individuals all over the world.

Baby panda has already grown into a big bear.

Where can you see a panda?

All pandas belong to China, and if you see a panda in a zoo, you know that they live there under a lease agreement and when they have offspring, then it automatically also belongs to China. But in order to see pandas, it is not necessary to fly to China.

There are a couple dozen zoos and natural national parks in the world where pandas live. Unfortunately, China, as a monopolist, exposes a considerable amount of rent and not all zoos can afford to rent and maintain them. But still, 35 individuals live in different parts of the world and if you wish, you can see them.

Where can you see a panda.

Of the places closest to Russia where you can see a panda - a zoo which is located in one of the parks of Vienna - Schönnbrun, in Austria. Nearby is the Berlin Zoo, and a little further, where you can also get with only a Schengen visa, the Madrid Zoo. But if you are in Thailand, then it is most convenient for you to take the next train to Chiang Mai. See a panda and visit tiger kingdom .

Panda at the zoo.

Baby Ling Ping lives separately from her parents in a large spacious aviary. She has a lot of toys, but I found her very lonely. She wandered around the cage back and forth at times pounding her paws on the floor and was clearly overexcited. Evening was coming, I arrived at the Chiang Mai Zoo almost before closing. And pandas, as you know, are nocturnal animals, so it is quite possible that she just woke up and did exercises 🙂

Baby panda cage at the Chiang Mai Zoo.

Visitors can stand and watch the panda from above through the glass.

A cozy spacious aviary still cannot be compared with bamboo thickets in nature. But the baby will never know about them.

The baby's parents live in other enclosures and are separated from visitors not by thick glass stained with children's hands, but by a moat.

The panda is one of the most unusual animals in the world.
You can see the panda at the zoo in Chiang Mai.

There is a lot of space, but of course not enough, and walking along it is the same as running along a bike path - the same landscape outside the window.

And this is mom panda, funny mimic Ling Hui. She builds muzzles for visitors and is a little calmer than her lover.

Giant pandas at the Chiang Mai Zoo.

Panda crawls through the branches of trees, chews bamboo while sitting in an armchair, plays ball and sighs languidly in front of the fence, behind which her lover is sitting.

Loving panda.
Love knows no boundaries, but can be separated by a simple fence.

There are many other interesting animals in the Chiang Mai Zoo, but I will talk about this separately.

Which of the people who are not idly interested in the animal world in all its diversity has not dreamed of seeing the pearl of the South Chinese fauna, the rarest giant panda, the black-and-white bamboo bear, about which there were long and fierce disputes - is he a bear or is he still a raccoon? I dreamed too. So much has been read and re-read, and the story of the discovery of the beast by the missionary-naturalist Father Armand David learned by heart. However, I was lucky enough to see the first giant panda alive in my life (a stuffed animal in the St. Petersburg Zoo Museum of the Academy of Sciences does not count) only at the age of 36.

Bao Bao at the Berlin Zoo

It happened at the Berlin Zoo, which was called the West Berlin Zoo for 34 years. Moreover, the pandas here turned out to be not one, but two at once: the male Bao Bao and the female Yan Yan.

Bao Bao at the Berlin Zoo

The first was a gift from the Chinese government to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in 1980, and the second came to Berlin 15 years later as part of a captive breeding program.

Yang Yang in the enclosure of the Berlin Zoo

Naturally, this meeting with the living symbol of WWF was one of my greatest impressions, received by the memorable summer of 1996, when fate gave me the opportunity to visit 38 zoos in Europe in 3.5 months.

But theoretically, such a meeting could have happened much earlier, when the Moscow Zoo was the place of residence of the giant panda. A night on the train is the distance from Novgorod to Moscow. However, this is if you decide for yourself. And when your parents decide for you, distributing the household budget for much more prosaic articles than a trip to the metropolitan zoo, everything is not so simple. For the first time, my dream to see a zoo in Moscow came true only at the age of 18, 6 years after the last time a bamboo bear was seen there. Alas…

Information about the content of giant pandas in the Moscow Zoo can be found in various publications, including the books of the former director of the zoo, the tireless popularizer of his institution, Igor Petrovich Sosnovsky. Below I take the liberty of bringing together fragments from his books and articles, as well as from a review on the history of the department of mammals (authors - E. Davydov, I. Alekseicheva, E. Lysogorskaya), published in the report on the work of the Moscow Zoo for 2005. According to these data, 5 (five) bamboo bears have visited the zoo of the Russian capital in its entire history.

The first of them - a male named Ping-Ping - was brought here in May 1957.

"According to Chinese zoologists,- wrote I.P. Sosnovsky, - in 1936-1956, only 14 bamboo bears were caught, most of which died during transportation. It is also known that several bamboo bears were taken out of China in 1938 by the British and kept in the London Zoological Park. In the spring of 1955, Chinese specialists, members of a comprehensive expedition to western part Sichuan Province, captured three young bamboo bears in Bao Xin County, which were taken to the Beijing Zoo. One of them was donated by the Chinese comrades to the working people of Moscow in May 1957 and entered the Moscow Zoo for keeping..

Ping Ping on Animal Island

From myself, I note that this was an event not only, let's say, of zoological, but also of political importance: in the summer of that year, the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students was loudly held in Moscow, and the panda, among other symbols, should have symbolized the friendship of a Russian with a Chinese , "brothers forever". They settled Ping-Ping on the Island of animals. But the first Soviet panda did not live here for long - "only two years" (Davydov and others). The most probable cause- lack of knowledge on caring for such a specialized animal. And perhaps the age of the beast.

Why "perhaps"? Here at this point, almost barely beginning the story, I have to insert the first comment. Sosnovsky in the III issue of the collection of articles "Moscow Zoo" (1961) and the team of authors after more than 40 years disagree in assessing the age of Ping-Ping. Sosnovsky, as you could read above, claims that one of the three young bears was brought to Moscow, while Davydov, Alekseicheva and Lysogorskaya write something else: “In May 1957, a middle-aged bamboo bear named Ping-Ping was brought in”.

Understand as you wish, I still have no other sources of information. On the one hand, none of the later authors worked at the zoo under Ping-Ping, and Igor Petrovich nevertheless described in hot pursuit what he himself was a living witness to.

Here is another very important quote from his Giant Panda article:

“In 1956-1958, the leadership of the Beijing Zoo carried out several expeditions for bamboo bears, as a result of which 5 more specimens were caught. One of them was acquired in 1958 by the Austrian businessman Demmer. At his request, the animal was kept for 10 days at the Moscow Zoo, from where it was sent to the Frankfurt Zoo (on the Main). In September 1958, this copy entered the London Zoological Park ".

I personally have not seen any mention of this “instance” anywhere else, including from Sosnovsky himself (although I can’t claim completeness of information in any way, it’s clear that I haven’t read everything written on this issue). Nevertheless, the moment is important and bright: let it be 10 days, but in 1958 two giant pandas lived in the Moscow Zoo at the same time. And only then, after the death of Ping-Ping, did the third beast appear, which I.P. Sosnovsky and everyone after him are called the second:

“By the beginning of 1959, there were 7 bamboo bears in the zoological parks of the world, 5 of them in Beijing and one each in Moscow and London. In August 1959, the second bamboo bear arrived at the Moscow Zoo".

Note that the director of the zoo does not indicate in his article that Ping Ping was not there by that time. And the reader has the right to think that there are two black and white bears at once. By the way, maybe it was so, because, firstly, the trio of late authors do not write how long Ping-Ping, who lived “only two years”, lasted. Until May - month after month? Or until March? Or before October? Very vague. Moreover (and this is second), here is what Sosnovsky writes further:

“The Ping-Ping bamboo bear, kept in the Moscow Zoo, weighed 20 kilograms in 1955 (that is, when it was caught. - A.K.), in the spring of 1960, his weight reached 185 kilograms ".

It turns out that Ping-Ping lived at least until the spring of 1960, and was here at the same time as An-An. That is, lived at least three years. It is unlikely that Igor Petrovich messed up, who at the time of the publication of the article was 45 years old, too early for sclerosis. However, this point - at least for myself - has yet to be clarified. In the zoo and in the Zoo Museum of Moscow State University, which exhibits stuffed animals of two giant pandas (how could they get here, except from the zoo?).

Okay, let's continue.

“By nature, this is a very calm, affectionate animal, Sosnovsky writes. - It does not show any aggression towards humans. Ping Ping is active and curious, but after eating he rests and sleeps for a long time. When irritated or hungry, it makes soft sounds, somewhat reminiscent of the bleating of a sheep. IN warm weather the animal willingly bathes, immersing the whole body in water. Strong heat and sun does not tolerate well ...

From May to October, our Bamboo Bear is kept in a large open paddock with natural soil and water, with a cool shelter for shelter from the sun. During the heat, the bear often goes into it for for a long time. From October to May, the animal is kept indoors, which maintains an average of 12-16 degrees Celsius.

The daily diet of Ping-Ping is 2 kilograms of rice or oatmeal, boiled in milk, 100 grams of sugar, 400 grams of fruit juices, about 500 bamboo sprouts and leaves and 2 eggs. He willingly drinks fruit juices, sweet tea and eats grated carrots, willow birch branches.
At the London Zoo, the bamboo bear eats bananas, oranges, apples, white bread, cottage cheese and chicken.

But now let's return to An-An, depicted on a postage stamp issued in 1964 for the 100th anniversary of the zoo. He lived until 1972. That's what I.P. Sosnovsky wrote about him in the book Pets of the Moscow Zoo (1974):

“In the beginning, there were great difficulties with feeding. The bear did not want to eat anything, except for his usual food - bamboo. And where can I get it, and even fresh? I had to fly to Sukhumi, Batumi, harvest bamboo there and send it by plane to Moscow. We also contacted botanical gardens, but all this was laborious and expensive. We decided to gradually accustom the new settlers to Russian dishes, to Russian cuisine. The menu included cereals, fruits, vegetables, sweet tea, and birch, willow and linden brooms instead of bamboo. Nothing, I'm used to it. He grew normally, developed well and forgot his favorite bamboo. Its weight reached more than 150 kilograms, and the length of the body is about 1.5 meters ...

... Having a snack with his favorite brooms or branches with fresh leaves, he always sits down, leaning his back against a tree trunk. Thin branches, twigs deftly holds the fingers of the front paws and quickly eats leaves from them with sharp incisor teeth. The mobility of the fingers is such that he can hold a stylus in his paw.

... By nature, he was very calm, good-natured, gave the opportunity to stroke himself, scratch and never made attempts to angrily reject affection. True, if he was bothered, he could grab it with his paw, and his claws are large and sharp "...

An-An in the aviary at the Bamboo House

An-An, apparently, also lived at first on the Isle of Beasts. But in 1962, a special small building with two enclosures was built especially for him in the Old Territory - the Bamboo House. There he lived for 10 years. After his death, other animals were kept there, and in the late 70s this complex was converted to keep spectacled bears.

In the late 1960s, the legendary matchmaking saga of An-An and the London female Chi-Chi took place. Word I.P. Sosnovsky:

“In 1966, the Zoological Society of London approached us with a proposal to connect the female Chi-Chi, which belongs to him and lives in the London Zoo, with our An-An. We agreed. Given the enormous scientific value of these rare animals, the British and Soviet sides entered into an agreement on state level about the experiment to connect the Moscow "bachelor" with the London "bride".

In March 1966, Chi-Chi flew to Moscow on a passenger plane, on the board of which was written in large letters: “Special flight. Panda". About 200 people gathered for a meeting at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Here were our and foreign correspondents, representatives of the British Embassy, ​​employees of the USSR Ministry of Culture, employees of the zoo, television, and radio. One of the journalists jokingly said: “I often visit this port, but I haven’t met a single king or prime minister yet” ...

Chi-Chi before flying from London to Moscow (photo from I.P. Sosnovsky's book "Behind the Scenes of the Zoo", 1989)

…After the quarantine, the “bride-in” took place. Experts have determined that both "betrothed" are in perfect health. After that, for several days, the animals were kept alone, giving them, however, the opportunity to get to know each other through the bars. The animals seemed to treat each other with good intentions. We decided to connect. The male was released first into the spacious enclosure. He was visibly agitated, circling around the enclosure, looking into all corners, making slightly squealing sounds and vigorously moving his nose. I was looking for the smell of my "betrothed". When he calmed down, they opened the door from the female's room. She did not go out immediately, looked around for a long time, sniffed, then climbed out through open door and carefully stepped to the ground. For several minutes, Chi-Chi and An-An kept at a distance from each other, then approached and again quite calmly dispersed. The employees of the Moscow and London zoos who were present at the same time rejoiced: our wards became friends, got used to each other! And suddenly, all of a sudden, the male attacked the female, grabbing her by the teeth with his teeth. back leg. And a fierce battle began with desperate cries and the roar of animals. We had security arrangements in advance in case of an unsuccessful "marriage date." Fire hoses instantly started working, blank shots from hunting rifles were heard, whistles and shouts rose, but the animals went into a rage. The fight continued. To separate them, a whole fire brigade rushed into the enclosure. The combatants were surrounded and attacked with plywood shields and sharp lances, while spraying them with jets of water. All this cooled the ardor of An-An, and he retreated. He managed to drive into an isolated cage.

Several days passed, the animals were kept singly, and then they tried to connect again. When re-released into a common enclosure, the pandas switched roles. Now, having seized the moment, the female attacked the male: she hit him with her paws, grabbed him with her teeth ...

Chi-Chi in the enclosure of the Moscow Zoo (photo from Yunost magazine, 1966)

... Chi-Chi lived in our zoo for more than six months, but they never became friends with An-An. No wedding took place. Apparently, they did not agree on the characters ... It was a pity for us to part with Chi-Chi, and it was a pity that the experiment was a failure..

Today, from the height of knowledge of modern zoo science, one can only smile condescendingly at these lines. After all, the "wedding" of the pandas could not take place. Pandas are not dogs, their mating will not work as a result of sitting in one cage. Today, scientists know that the bamboo bear is capable of conceiving (and adopting a male) only once a year for a short time period of 24 to 48 hours. And that's it! They will not converge at the appointed moment - to wait for her another year. But how could zookeepers know this at the time? There was also no technology to determine the readiness of the female to conceive and her pregnancy by urinalysis.

But let's not smile. Who knows what progress zoo biology will achieve in another 30 years, what new knowledge will replace today's knowledge? Perhaps any animal for the zoo can be cloned, and no one will have to be removed from nature. Perhaps animals and birds that have long been exterminated and extinct will appear in zoos, and Jurassic or Pleistocene parks will become as real as the Internet ...

However, in the 1960s, no one thought about it. We decided that Chi-Chi was simply uncomfortable in Moscow, and the meeting on the Thames would be more successful:

“In 1968, our An-An flew to London on a return visit, - writes I.P. Sosnovsky, - and we hoped that the dates would be more successful at the bride's residence. However, despite the excellent conditions created for pandas at the London Zoo, this meeting turned out to be fruitless. They didn't want to be friends again."…

CM. Kudryavtsev escorts An-Anya to the airport

Together with the director of the Moscow Zoo, the zoo zoologist Stanislav Mikhailovich Kudryavtsev flew to London, he also lived there all those months that An-An was visiting the London Zoo, regularly reporting to Moscow about the progress of the project. And if for An-An that trip ended in nothing, then his escort found many friends in the UK. The local colleagues highly appreciated the knowledge and interest of the Muscovite. Kudryavtsev returned home as a member of the London Zoological Society.

CM. Kudryavtsev (left) and An-An at the London Zoo

British “The press, television and radio kept Londoners informed almost daily about what was going on between the pandas. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of amateur photographers captured this couple on the films of their cameras, artists made sketches, toy bamboo bears and porcelain figurines depicting them were sold in stores. That's what a celebrity was our An-An ", - this is how Igor Petrovich Sosnovsky ends his story.

Muscovites and guests of the Russian capital had a new opportunity to see live pandas only 29 years after An-An's death - in 2001, during the Days of Beijing Culture in Moscow.

Bamboo Bear Ben-Ben. Moscow, end of June-2001

The following are quotes from the annual report of the Moscow Zoo:
“Negotiations with the Chinese side began six months before this event. An agreement was concluded, signed by representatives of the two municipalities. It stipulated the conditions of transportation, accommodation, insurance, feeding, veterinary care of animals and accommodation of accompanying specialists from China. According to the agreement, two pandas from the Beijing Zoo flew to Moscow for two months. For their maintenance, the pavilion "Cats of the Tropics" was chosen..

A group of Chinese specialists arrived in advance, who examined the premises, expressed their wishes and comments, and agreed to exhibit the giant pandas. In anticipation of valuable exhibits, we experienced many exciting, troublesome, and often unpleasant minutes: transplanting jaguars from the pavilion, installing air conditioners in cages, refurbishing and strengthening enclosures ... And the terrible day when the pandas arrived cost more than one zoo employee gray hair. Expected by 7 o'clock in the morning, due to problems at customs, the bamboo bears did not arrive until 9 o'clock in the evening. The exhausted staff - both those who were waiting at the zoo and those who met at the airport - were terrible to look at. Basically, of course, they were worried about the animals, and when the pandas were planted in spacious, comfortable cages and fed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.…

Bamboo she-bear Wen-Wen. Moscow, end of June-2001

“The Moscow Zoo has entered into a special agreement to receive fresh bamboo from Adler. Bamboo was delivered by plane twice a week at the rate of 35 kg per animal.”.

Dinner Wen Wen, rear view

The "guest performers" from Beijing were of different sexes and were kept in two separate enclosures. Both animals were born at the Beijing Zoo - a 9-year-old female Wen-Weng, named after the director of the zoo, comrade Wen, and a male named Ben-Ben, which means Goby: he was born in the year of the Ox and celebrated his 4th birthday on July 24 in Moscow.

The measured life of Wen-Wen at the Moscow Zoo: eat, take a walk - eat again...

At the end of June, after a two-week adaptation period, the bamboo bears were put on public display. Outlandish and rare animals have caused a large influx of people to the zoo, which in the summer does not suffer without the attention of visitors. The "panda boom" lasted a little over a month, and then the animals were safely returned to the Beijing Zoo.

1957 poster (color from the black and white original inspired by the imagination of the author of the post)

In addition to giant pandas, the collection of the Moscow Zoo also included red pandas. They were brought here from China just in the same May 1957, when Ping-Ping arrived, as a gift from the mayor of Beijing, Comrade Peng Zhen (and along with the pandas, also two giant salamanders, two pangolins and a cobra). Lesser pandas were demonstrated in the Fur Row on new territory- where the paddocks for riding horses are now. How long they lived here, I can’t say - what I don’t know, I don’t know. However, for several years now, the Moscow Zoo has been waiting for the opportunity to get red pandas as part of the EEP - European Breeding Program rare species. For them, cages and a paddock on the Island of Animals have long been prepared - that same empty sector with a house between Kamchatka and Himalayan bears, which many people probably paid attention to. Let's hope that sooner or later they will appear here.

In the 90s, red pandas were imported in two Russian zoos- Leningrad and Novosibirsk. Moreover, a couple of pandas did not live even a year in the city on the Neva, apparently dying from an infection and not even getting into the annual list of animals from the collections of EARAZA zoos (it is compiled as of January 1). And of the couple that arrived in Novosibirsk in 1992, the female named Daughter (she is in this picture) lived until 2001, that is, 10 years. The male fell in the 95th or 96th year. In 1999, a male born in the Dresden Zoo was brought to Daughter, but he outlived her by only 3 years.

I saw Daughter in 1998. She spent almost all daylight hours in her house, so during the four hot days spent at the Novosibirsk Zoo, I had practically no chances to photograph her. But the park staff took pity on me: Daughter could not resist the squeak of a specially brought day-old chicken and crawled out of the shelter overtime. However, while I was tinkering with my old Zenit, she quickly vanished back, so I managed to take only two shots, none of which can be called successful ...

Little panda Daughter (Novosibirsk Zoo, 1998)

P.S. A lot of time has passed since this post was written. Red pandas have been living between Kamchatka and Himalayan bears on the "Island of Animals" in the Moscow Zoo for two years now. And closest to European Russia representatives of this species can be found in the zoos of Warsaw and Helsinki. (23/03/2011)

Sources of information and some illustrations: