GIANT TEDDY BEAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 October 1938, Page 6

GIANT TEDDY BEAR

1 ■> ANIMAL THAT EATS BAMBOO.

WAYS OF THE PANDA.

Should you ever possess a giant panda, do not try tp keep him in a bamboo cage, for he will eat it for his dinner. Bamboo sprouts carefully selected and well cooked are dainties well known to Chinese cooks. The panda prefers the raw canes. Being a lazy animal, he likes to lie on his back crunching bamboos which are about the thickness of a walking stick. If they are bigger than this he splits them and rejects the outer wood. The thinner stems and leaves he scorns, unless old age has spoilt his teeth so that he can no longer splinter the hard canes.

Chinese hunters have brought some pandas to the West China University at Chengtu, and these piebald teddybears have proved to be most popular visitors. Their white and fluffy fur is very thick, and they have black paws which turn in as they walk. Across the back is a narrow band of black, while black rings, like horn-rimmed glasses, surround the eyes. Small black ears complete the quaint effect. They ’are friendly animals, allowing themselves to be touched without fear or show of anger. Perhaps they are too lazy to rebel, for they like to take life easily. When walking they frequently lie down for short rests, and they never seem so happy as when sprawling on their backs. The panda, can, however, be more active when necessity arises. One got excited when it discovered that it was near a bed of young asparagus; it proved, to its host’s dismay, that bamboo is not the only thing it eats. Another, when lolling on its back, perceived an Alsatian across the lawn. This panda did not linger, but ran quickly for the nearest tree, up which he neatly climbed, surveying the scene from the security of a lower branch. This drew broad grins from the hunters. “That is just how we catch these‘white bears,’ ” they said in Chinese. The panda lives in the bamboo scrub, moving extremely slowly, eating its way. To catch him in the dense undergrowth is almost impossible, but if, by the aid of dogs, he can be headed off towards a tree he will go up it. All that remains is for the patient hunter to wait until he slides down again, when, without fighting, he can be taken.

The giant panda has leapt into sudden fame. He is no longer allowed to dwell undisturbed in his lonely haunts along the borderland between China and Tibet. Missionaries and explorers told about him, expeditions sought his skin, and then the delighted outside world was presented with a baby panda, which, after an exciting journey by air and sea, arrived in safety in the United States. Collectors then became hot upon the trail, as other zoological gardens also desired to possess one of these animals, not only for its quaint attractiveness, but also because of the scientific work still to be done in connection with it. These collectors call forth the admiration of those who live near the panda country. Some have real scientific interest, others are more commercially inclined, but all have courage. It is not too simple, especially in war time, to travel the breadth of China without any knowledge of Chinese. Difficulties are not over when the bargain is struck and the panda has changed hands. Problems of transport present themselves, and the diet of the panda has to be modified if possible, for no one can contemplate a long journey to the United States or Europe with an animal which consumes daily over 401 b. of bamboo scrub!