The hidden truth about panda conservation in China, between breeding factories and zoo business

They are shown to us as looked after and lovingly cared for by specialized personnel, presented to the network and to the public in their disarming tenderness. Thinking about pandathe first image that comes to mind is that of a guardian holding an adorable puppy in his arms.

Maybe that shot comes right from Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the center of giant panda and other rare animals based in Sichuan province.

It is in this part of China and beyond, among zoos that exhibit dogs dyed to resemble pandas, that the Chinese government finances research and breeding of the country’s symbolic mammal. But what this entails, beyond sweet births, is not clear to everyone.

To shine the spotlight on this “panda factory” is an investigation conducted by the New York Times, which obtained exclusive material from the archives of Smithsonian Institution.

Through interviews with people close to the center of Chengdu or directly involved in the research, the New York Times reveals the other side of the coin of species conservation plans.

Since the late 1990s, China has launched programs to study pandas, their biology, their behaviors, as well as countermeasures to respond to population declines in the wild. Among the countermeasures is the breeding conducted at the panda base. But what type of farming are we talking about?

and the reporters of the famous Big Apple newspaper became aware of this by analyzing pages and pages of documents with many shadows.

Practices such as rectal electroejaculation in males to proceed with forced reproduction through artificial insemination, risks related to anesthesia with even the sensational case of a specimen who died in 2010 in Japan due to electroejaculation.

And that’s not all that emerged from opening Pandora’s box or pandas. From the investigation it was discovered that the ultimate goal of these programs would not be the reintroduction of the specimens into the wild but transfer to zoos.

But this, in part, had already been understood following the policy implemented by China on the so-called “panda diplomacy“. Being a valuable bargaining chip, pandas have become an expression of China’s power and exploited to maintain strong relations with other states and strengthen international cooperation.

An example of this are the many pandas loaned to zoos around the world and returned to China at the “end of their contract”. The investigation offers a different interpretation of the conservation actions promoted for the species, highlighting a much more complex and opaque story.