Mignon Petites
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Panda
The inspiration for the Panda Mignon have been two real-life giant pandas that used to reside in the San Diego Zoo. They were Bai Yun and her son, Xiao Liwu. It was a major event in Southern California when Bai Yun arrived from China in 1996. And it was even a biggest event when she gave birth to her sixth cub, Xiao Liwu, in 2012.
I think the 24-hour panda cam played a major role in bringing Xiao Liwu into people’s daily lives in the San Diego region. So many people cared about him and his mom, and loved them both with passion. When Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu prepared to move back to their ancient Chinese homeland in 2019, people were ecstatic about their success. But at the same time, their departure inspired sadness and countless tears as well. The Mignon Petites family of animals can’t possibly exist without commemorating the two Giant Pandas that used to live nearby.
The Giant Panda: Vulnerable Species
Pandas have an amazing power to attract the attention and appreciation of countless people all over the world. Just by having a single glimpse of a panda, the love-at-first-sight effect appears to be in full force.
There are lots of speculations and postulations about people’s love for the panda, but perhaps the main reason for people’s unique awareness of them is that not very long ago, giant pandas were threatened by extinction.
The exclusive native habitat of pandas is located in China. Between 1974-1977, the Ministry of Forestry in that country estimated that about 2,459 pandas remained living in the wild. The poor census was alarming, and the fight for the survival of the species began, entailing some victories on the way, but quite a high number of setbacks as well.
The year of 1984 was significant because it was then that the Chinese government recognized the commodity value of the giant panda. While the commercial enterprise factor is not a very appealing part of the story, considering the raging illegal hunting of the pandas in their natural habitat, loaning out giant pandas to various zoos all over the world might have contributed to saving the species. The pandas started to be loaned to zoos for a 1 Million dollar yearly fee.
Global awareness of the plight of the panda grew remarkably in 1985 when two leading scientists, Hu Jinchu and George B. Schaller, operating out of the Wolong panda base, published their findings in a book titled Wolong’s Giant Panda. The growing world-wide awareness notwithstanding, by 1988, the panda population living in its natural habitat in China dropped to 1114, which was an over 50% decrease in their number from a decade earlier.
After long years of tumultuous and often tragic history of panda conservation, in June 2004, the State Council of China published the Third National Survey on the giant panda and its habitat, which finally showed a glimmer of hope: There were 1596 giant pandas living in the wild.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature changed the endangered status of the panda to vulnerable, and by 2019, the number of giant pandas living in their natural habitat in China was reported to reach 2,000.
Giant Pandas in the San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo here in California received Bai Yun, a female giant panda in 1996 as part of the Chinese government’s loan and research program. Bai Yun gave birth to her 6th cub in 2012, and the baby boy panda came to be known as Xiao Liwu.
Bitter-Sweet Goodbye
The year of 2019 marked a bitter-sweet event in our San Diego Zoo. Mama and son pandas were leaving California forever, to make their journey back to their native habitat in China. At that, an over 20 years long program to re-establish the species has concluded.
Mama panda Bai Yun is now 30 years old, and Xiao Liwu is turning 10 years old on July 29, 2022. As far as we know, both of them are in good health. They are happy and safe.
Giant Pandas: Characteristics
Giant Pandas are a type of bear that sport a thick, coarse, dense, elegant black and white fur. They have rather small eyes, but the black patches around the eyes give a sense that their eyes might be quite large. They have black ears, black legs, and black mid-sections.
Giant Pandas appear chubby, but they actually don’t have a fat storage under their skin. To sustain themselves, they eat for 12-14 hours per day, mostly in a sitting position, but sometimes they munch on bamboo shoots lying on their backs.
Full grown pandas may weigh between 150 and 280 Lbs. They are funny, clumsy, and mischievous in nature. And don’t we all know people like that?!
The Mignon Petites family of animals can’t possibly exist without featuring Giant Pandas. This is to honor and commemorate “our own” giant pandas we used to visit here in the San Diego Zoo.
Sources
History of the Giant Panda
https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?13588/History-of-the-Giant-Panda
San Diego Zoo says goodbye to its giant pandas
Bai Yun
Xiao Liwu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiao_Liwu
Where to See Giant Pandas
https://www.animalsaroundtheglobe.com/where-to-see-giant-pandas/
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