Some good (if familiar) points were made about panda loaning being both an economic and political exercise. What a pity that they were followed by this:
When you reduce 1.3 billion people down to one stereotype it's amazing how quickly you can end up sounding incredibly foolish. Yes, the majority of people in China do not care so much about conservation, but you are totally ignoring the work of a small but passionate minority who are dedicated to changing this.
Is there really a moral high ground to be gained because 'we' eat some animals and 'they' eat others?
What a ridiculous thing to write on this forum of all places. Who among us has not seen countless signs explaining the dangers of the trade in these animal products at virtually every zoo we visit (including, I would point out, at good Chinese zoos)? The only reason to place such signs at the Giant Panda enclosure, rather than, say, the Rhino House, would be to make the kind of political point that would hardly build the cooperation needed to deal with what is after all a global issue as well as a specifically Chinese problem. I have highlighted the part in bold as being particularly farcical; I leave it for readers to rebut themselves as a trivial exercise.
No, I do not have that, because when I "write the Chinese", it's not about the people or individual people or groups, but more generally, but mainly about the political attitude and the unfortunately not very positive attitude towards animals, as it is unfortunately widespread in China and reveals itself too well on zoo visits.I have no ethical problem that animals are eaten and also wild animals - if NOT threatened, in this respect commercially used in reasonable proportion, for my part, also cetaceans. This has never eradicated any animal species. Well, there's something about China with the turtles. Not only that, because of this "delicacy" and the tremendous consumption of these animals in China, the first Asian species are definitely eroded, countless other species are in acute danger, some exist only in captivity and this is undoubtedly a burden China. Now, China also imports turtles from other countries and continents to meet their needs. And China is one of the largest-if not the largest-market for pangolin products, including meat. And if that does not stop soon, the animals will be off the window in a few years. So forgive me, if I'm of the opinion that I have a problem with which animals are eaten in China - just as I reject the consumption of meat from the Factory farming, but that has animal welfare relevant reasons and no species protection reasons. And unfortunately, the consumption of rhino powder, all tiger and lion products and bile from bears in China is commonplace. Yes, that will certainly be criticized by people in China, but that should be a small minority, because too many people benefit from the business of wildlife products.Well, the signs I mentioned will of course never exist, because that would cut the panda holders into their own flesh. But it would be nice to explain to the public and visitors to the zoo how the country of China preserves biodiversity, if it is not about the cute panda bears - and with which the Chinese state earns a lot of money .
Keeping Pandas in Zoos outside of China It's similar to system catering. You open a McDonalds or Subway restaurant, use their products and brand names, and pay the parent company high stakes in the business. So does China with its "Gold Bears". Not only does the few offspring out there have to return to the parent company after 2-3 years, no, even if the agreed lease term, as now in San Diego, has expired, even 25-year-old, breeding panda has to be sent on along way home, just so San Diego can (or has to) rent a young, expensive pair of pandas in 1-2 years, and the ruble can continue to roll for China.
If China were really interested in helping the Panda out of their country, they would transfer the animals for FREE to the European and American breeding programs, instead of bringing back the offspring, or later, the older ones. This is not active conservation, and I think it is extremely deplorable and more than critical that many zoos are involved. Do not get me wrong, I'm find of panda's great animals and I also like to seethem , but with this background, I'll always see the zookeeping of pandas critically - just as many zoo directors do, like Mr. Ruebel in Zurich-one of the few really good zoodirectors with a clear opinion.But there are many more who oppose this business with the pandas.
Well, I would think it better and more believable if San Diego Zoo had the guts to give up the pandas, and would rather use the exhibitfor sunbear or sloth bear. As long as China earns so much money from living pandas, they will not die out. Unless some guy claims on the internet that the bones of giant pandas have cured him of cancer-then China's love for the pandas will also stop very quickly..
