Will the beloved giant panda go the way of the dinosaur and the
dodo? The prognosis is uncertain (fewer than one thousand pandas
remain in the wild, and a live panda draws over $100,000 on the
black market), says wildlife expert Schaller in this popularization
of his years of panda fieldwork in China (first described in more
scholarly fashion in his The Giant Pandas of Wolong, 1985). As
usual, Schaller describes nature with a poet's eye ("the ridge
lunged upward like a dragon's spine bristling with fir and birch").
But what sets this apart from his earlier books is its bold
political content. As Schaller sees it, both the Chinese government
and the World Wildlife Fund, cosponsors of his panda fieldwork,
have messed up in their attempts to help the panda. Most of the
author's opprobrium falls on Chinese officials, who come across as
venal, xenophobic, and in love with red tape. Panda breeding
stations in China are dark, cold, and caked with frozen urine and
feces; some Chinese scientists abuse the animals instead of
studying them. Poaching is an ever-present problem as well. In this
oppressive climate, Schaller managed to conduct valuable research
into panda daily life, mating, child rearing, and the mystery of
why these enormous animals eat only bamboo, so poor in nutrients
("like a person who subsists only on watermelon"). He coos over
panda droppings ("carefully I passed the fragile treasure to Sir
Peter"), measures the length of chewed bamboo stems, and wonders at
the panda's solitary ways, all the while fretting over the paranoia
rampant in the research camp - a holdover, he believes, from the
horrors of the Cultural Revolution. Not that the West is blameless:
Schaller denounces the widespread practice of European and American
zoos renting pandas for exhibition without paying proper attention
to captive breeding programs. Classic Schaller, with a punch -
score one for the panda. (Kirkus Reviews)
Dependent on a shrinking supply of bamboo, hunted mercilessly for
its pelt, and hostage to profiteering schemes once in captivity,
the panda is on the brink of extinction. Here, acclaimed naturalist
George Schaller uses his great evocative powers, and the insight
gained by four and a half years in the forests of the Wolong and
Tangjiahe panda reserves, to document the plight of these
mysterious creatures and to awaken the human compassion urgently
needed to save them.
"No scientist is better at letting the rest of us in on just how
the natural world works; no poet sees the world with greater
clarity or writes about it with more grace. . . . Anyone who
genuinely cares for wildlife cannot help being grateful to
Schaller--both for his efforts to understand the panda and for the
candor with which he reports what has gone so badly wrong in the
struggle to save it from extinction."--Geoffrey C. Ward, "New York
Times Book Review"
"Schaller's book is a unique mix of natural history and the
politics of conservation, and it makes for compelling reading. . .
. Having been in giant panda country myself, I found some of the
descriptions of the animals and habitats breathtaking. Schaller
describes the daily routines and personalities of the giant pandas
he studied (as well as their fates thereafter) as though they were
his blood relatives. . . . Schaller's brilliant presentation of the
complexities of conservation makes his book a milestone for the
conservation movement."--Devra G. Kleiman, "Washington Post Book
World"
"George Schaller's most soulful work, written in journal style
with many asides about a creature who evolved only two to three
million years ago (about the same time ashumans). . . . Here,
conservation biology confronts an evil that grinds against hope and
shatters the planet's diversity. Written with hope."--"Whole Earth
Catalog"
"A nicely crafted blend of wildlife observation and
political-cultural analysis. . . . "The Last Panda" is a sad
chronicle of our failure, so far, to stem the decline of the animal
that may be the most beloved on the planet."--Donald Dale Jackson,
"Smithsonian"
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