Panda politics
Huan Huan
Huan Huan : la nouvelle femelle panda du zoo de beauval
Le panda géant, (« pied-de-chat noir et blanc »), est un mammifère.
Il ne vit que dans le centre de la Chine, dans des régions montagneuses recouvertes de forêts d'altitude, comme le Sichuan et le Tibet, entre 1 800 et 3 400 mètres. Une région difficile d'accès aux Européens avant le milieu du XIXe siècle, ce qui explique sa description tardive en Occident.
Il ne vit que dans le centre de la Chine, dans des régions montagneuses recouvertes de forêts d'altitude, comme le Sichuan et le Tibet, entre 1 800 et 3 400 mètres. Une région difficile d'accès aux Européens avant le milieu du XIXe siècle, ce qui explique sa description tardive en Occident.
Il existe différentes légendes à propos des taches noires du panda qui diffèrent un peu selon les sources et le lieu d'origine.
Une légende chinoise populaire raconte qu'autrefois, les pandas étaient complètement blancs, mais, qu'un jour, la plus jeune de quatre sœurs mourut, ils trempèrent les mains dans de la cendre en signe de deuil. En pleurant, ils se frottèrent les yeux pour essuyer leurs larmes, se consolèrent en entourant leurs bras autour d'eux et se bouchèrent les oreilles pour ne pas entendre les pleurs. La légende veut que ces taches de cendre soient restées sur leur fourrure.
Une autre légende semblable, provenant du Tibet, raconte que ce serait une bergère qui aurait sauvé d'un léopard un bébé panda qui se promenait avec sa mère. La bergère qui s'interposa pour défendre le jeune panda mourut, et tous les pandas, émus par son courage, pleurèrent avec de la cendre dans les mains pour respecter les rites de l'endroit.
The giant panda, or panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "black and white cat-foot") is a bear native to central-western and south western China.It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo. Pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared feed.
What these young kids, and their parents and adult relatives alike, may not be aware, though, is the political implication behind the two furry cuteys.
US President Richard Nixon embarked on an ice-breaking visit to China in 1972. Reciprocating the goodwill, Beijing gifted a pair of giant pandas.
The gift took the world by storm, and before long, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing found themselves on the front covers of major newspapers worldwide.
When the giant pandas arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, they sent every American instantly electrified. Kids and adults joined the seemingly endless queues to catch a glimpse of Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing.
During the Cold War years, China was worlds apart from the West. Most Americans had not seen a Chinese before and all that they knew about the Chinese people were their mere fabrications. However, through the giant pandas, they managed to establish their cognition towards the Chinese people.
All of a sudden, the Western world became interested in the Chinese people, thinking that the people were just as lovable and kind-hearted as the two bears in Washington's zoo.
That was the honeymoon period for Sino-US relations.
Thanks to the giant panda diplomacy, the Americans paired up with the Chinese to confront the Soviet Union.
Thereafter giant pandas have assumed the roles of the perfect diplomats. If Beijing wants to befriend any nation, it will present a pair of giant pandas to that country.
So, we had Lan Lan and Kang Kang in Japan, Bao Bao in Germany, and much later, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan in Taiwan.
However, China stopped acting so generously after late 1980s. Pandas are only for lease, no more free gifts. As if that is not enough, the recipients must also shoulder the massive upkeeping costs, reflecting the Middle Kingdom's decisive transition to market economy.
The panda's rendezvous here might have come a little too late. As a matter of fact, they should have been here much earlier.
Prior to the 2008 general election, PM Abdullah's aides were racking their brains how to win over the Chinese voters.
The way Chinese Malaysians vote is weird. Sometimes, some unrelated acts could flame up the passion of Chinese voters and tilt them towards the ruling coalition.
The most typical instance was the official visit by Tun Abdul Razak to China in 1974 which successfully drew Chinese votes to BN in the general election that followed.
Back to Abdullah, sure enough he could not repeat what Tun Razak had done, as visits by Malaysian prime ministers to Beijing were such a common practice nowadays that they would no longer be equated to electoral bounties for the BN.
But something flashed past the minds of his aides, who believed the giant pandas would do what Tun Razak's landmark visit had done so well.
In the end, the pandas didn't come, anyway, and many Chinese votes were drained away from the ruling coalition.
And now with the giant pandas making headlines again in this country, I have little clue whether this has got something to do with the upcoming general election, or could it just be another coincidence?
Whatever it is, the prominence of panda diplomacy has slowly dwindled and will no longer translate into significant political windfall, save for some cheers from the young and the not-so-young.
It is a good thing for both man and panda that the animal is gradually depegged from human politics.
The Ministry of Natural Resources says the giant pandas will live in a wetland park in Malaysia's administrative capital of Putrajaya for 10 years.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said Tuesday the loan marks "a great symbol of the warm and close relations" Malaysia and China have.
An agreement for the plan will be signed this week, but it wasn't clear when the pandas will arrive.
Malaysian officials say they will conduct panda conservation research including in the areas of artificial insemination and behavior studies.
Malaysia will also run a contest to name the pandas.
China regularly sends the prized animals abroad as part of "panda diplomacy" to signal strong relations.
Giant panda – an ‘elephant’ in the room
Many factors stand in the way of the survival of a menagerie of Bornean wildlife species, but Putrajaya has RM20 million to burn on two giant pandas from China.
They will live, quite literally, in the lap of luxury and comfort with round-the-clock room service. And if all goes well, the pandas will witness Malaysia join the ranks of “developed” nations in 2020 and then returned to China.
Ironically, here in Sabah, conservationists are fighting an uphill battle to protect and bring the Borneo rhinoceros back from the edge of extinction.
Less than 30 specimens are left alive on the planet. A handful has been caught in a last-ditch effort to breed them.
The rest have never been seen and the prognosis is not good.
They are not the only animals in Sabah on the list of endangered species like the giant panda which is endemic in China and is estimated to number only 1,600.
Lack of funding, inadequate laws, indiscriminate deforestation and economic interests are slowly but surely strangling the menagerie of Bornean species, some, like the rhinoceros, found only in Sabah.
Among the well-known is the unique Bornean “pygmy” elephant and the orangutan.
At least one conservationist here is bemused by the hoopla generated by the giant panda deal announced by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry this week.
Raymond Alfred, an expert who has been working in wildlife conservation in Borneo for 12 years said: “In my opinion, the plan to host two baby pandas in Malaysia needs further consideration.
“The government needs to consider the plan properly, since it is very costly and risky, while at the same time the conservation of our rhinoceros, orangutan and elephant needs more attention.”
Any ‘long-term planning’?
Alfred told FMT that he had doubts over whether any “proper long-term planning” had been done to justify the cost of upkeeping the two baby giant pandas.
Many suspect the deal has nothing to do with conservation and all to do with political posturing,
It is normally understood that giant pandas on loan to a foreign country comes with a fee, depending on the agreement between the two countries.
According to reports, the “deal” would require Malaysia to take care of the pandas for 10 years for a reported cost of RM20 million.
The RM20 million costs reported by the media soon after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Nanning, China, last April is expected to cover the cost of construction of an air-conditioned sanctuary for the pandas, importing bamboos from China for their meals as well to train local handlers.
Alfred said that if the ultimate aim of the panda programme in Malaysia is to raise awareness and funding for the endangered Borneo rhino, elephant and orangutan, then it was worth the expense.
“But a lot of issues have to be considered… such as the suitability of the Malaysian weather, availability of food for the pandas and, most importantly, how we [Malaysia] can play a role in supporting the conservation of these pandas,” he said.
He fears that wildlife conservation policies in Malaysia are wide off the mark and warned that continued delays in protecting the country’s dwindling virgin rainforests would doom the unique species found in it to extinction.
Studies have already shown a correlation between the population of several species and the breaking-up of habitat into increasingly smaller oasis for wildlife.
“Our rhinos which are only available in Sabah need more attention from the government. Key orangutan habitat became isolated 30 years ago and their population is already declining due to limited suitable forest habitat and habitat degradation,” he said.
There has also been an alarming increase in human and elephant conflict every year in both in peninsula and Sabah due to lack of understanding of their habitat requirement and their behaviour.
Local NGOs struggling to save wildlife
But Alfred pointed out that people never seem to recognise what they have until they lost it.
The failure to see the forest for the trees was amply demonstrated in the Malaysian ministry’s statement which described the “deal” as being “.. in accordance with Aichi Targets 2010 under the Convention on Biological Diversity which promotes conservation efforts in preventing species extinction. Through this cooperation, too, Malaysia can conduct conservation research on the giant panda”.
The statement added that the “close relationship between the two countries had enabled Malaysia to attract more foreign investment from China to boost the country’s economy further”.
Said Alfred: “We will never appreciate these three species [rhinoceros, orangutan and elephant] which are iconic for Malaysia and have become endangered wildlife until we got the last one in Malaysia. By the time we open our eyes, even if we spend RM20 million or RM30 million, we will not get them back!”
Meanwhile, environmentalists and wildlife conservationists here are desperately trying to re-establish ecological corridors for wildlife to move freely from pocket to pocket of forests, which are increasingly hedged in by massive oil palm plantations that have destroyed the ecosystem that wildlife needs to survive.
They also want the government to “revise policy and implement enforcement” to prevent forest fragmentation and degradation, which is happening at an increasing rate.
Most observers note that Sabah’s wildlife conservation efforts by the government merely boil down to agreements and deals, but little action to curb land grabs and illegal logging.
Alfred urged the government to “fully support the rhino breeding programme and prove that Malaysia can take care of its near extinct species”.
“They [the government] should develop a conservation programme where the local community can get benefit and appreciate the value of high biodiversity.”
He said he would have “no objection to the plan to spend RM20 million just to host the two baby pandas for 10 years if we Malaysians have done enough” to protect and conserve endangered species in their own backyard.
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