The giant panda's position in the bear family has only recently been solidified. When I was younger, my teachers in school taught us that it was a giant, tailless raccoon, and I still sometimes encounter visitors who are convinced that it's not really a bear. Genetics has confirmed for us, however, that that is what it is, being closer to the bears than not only to the raccoons, but to that "other" panda, the red panda, which really belongs off in a family all by itself. The scientific debates only raged for a century or so, because the giant panda was unknown to western science until the 1800's, and for the first few decades after that it remained a relatively obscure, unknowable animal. Once it first made the zoo scene, however, it exploded into superstardom.
What makes the giant panda so damn lovable to so many people? Desmond Morris of the Zoological Society of London thought that, in terms of appearance, pandas just push all the right buttons for us. They look like babies with flat, round faces and small noses; though their eyes aren't especially big, the black markings around them make the eyes look bigger and sweeter. They are plump and clumsy, which is endearing. As (mostly) vegetarians, they are nonthreatening (though looks can be deceiving - pandas can be quite aggressive, both with each other and with keepers). Also, rarity boosts popularity. "They're like super babies," he admitted.
After a few brief appearances from the 1930's on, pandas were exhibited consistently in the US following the arrival of Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling at the National Zoo, compliments of Richard Nixon's panda diplomacy. For years those were the only pandas in the US, though a few more joined in. At the peak, there were four zoos, now three. Just three zoos out of the 200+ accredited zoos in the US. There are more facilities with orcas in the US than that.
Unlike koalas, pandas aren't actually too, too hard to keep. Bamboo isn't eucalyptus and can be grown in a wide variety of climates. The challenge of feeding pandas isn't the availability of bamboo, it's the hassle of getting enough to feed the (wasteful) bears, which, to be fair, are also perfectly capable of eating other foods, unlike koalas. Whereas koalas can be finicky about temperature, pandas are a fair bit tougher, and enjoy cold weather. Given air conditioned dens to retreat into, they can put up with most summer weather as well, within reason. Breeding pandas, once considered nearly impossible, is starting to become more routine. With a few more pandas, I have no doubt that a sustainable zoo population could be created in the US... if it weren't for one teeny detail.
The problem with pandas certainly isn't one of demand. It's supply. After the deaths of Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling, all pandas in the US are property of the Chinese government, which charges a cool million bucks or so a year for the privilege of the loan. That puts pandas out of the means of many zoos. Even if a zoo could afford it, it raises the question of whether that money might be better spent on other conservation priorities. Not for nothing, but sloth bears and Andean bears could probably use a million dollars worth of conservation support per bear each year. Neither of those species, however, has the draw of pandas. Go to the National Zoo on a busy day (now that they are reopening) and walk in front of the pandas, sloth bears, and Andean bears. See where the crowds are.
I've seen pandas in four US zoos, and who knows, maybe someday I'll see them in more. It always makes me happy to see visitors get excited about an animal, and I know that the zoos that display the species can use the funds that pandas bring in (after they pay their rent, of course) to do other big projects. I just sometimes wish that visitors could see past the pandas and let some of that superstardom and worship rub off on some of the other species.
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