Panda bears
on Tina's Journal (China), 26/Jul/2009 06:41, 34 days ago
I was so lucky to see the Panda bears on Friday. We visited the Panda Research base here in Chengdu where there are both black and white and red bears. There are only about 1000 bears left living in their natural habitats in China. It is difficult to tell if the bears are happy or not kept at the centre, however if they weren't there they would certainly have little chance of survival as their natural habitats are in rapid decline. I was surprised to discover that new born baby bears only weigh 100grams when they're born which naturally gives them a low survival rate. We saw a new born baby bear, 5 days old, kept in a cot and it looking at it one could easily mistake it for a baby rodent of some sort. After several days it starts to develop the black and white markings and finally becomes independent from its mother at one and half years old. I saw about 10 Panda bears all together and about 6 red bears. I felt quite privaliged to have this opportunity and hope to get to see them one day in the wild.I am still in Chengdu, today its raining and hope it clears before tackling Emei Shan Mountain, 150km south of Chengdu, where Sarah and I are heading tomorrow for a 3 day climb.