9781422276402

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The appeal of the giant panda is quite far-reaching, especially considering that there is very little chance of the average person in most parts of the world actually ever seeing one.

J ust about everyone is familiar with the panda. We’ve all seen them in toy stores or in children’s rooms, among rows and rows of the ever-popular teddy hear and other stuffed animals. Pandas are abundant on T-shirts, on posters, in pic- tures, on greeting cards, on hats, as cartoon characters, and even as the symbol for a worldwide wildlife organization. The panda’s appeal is quite far-reaching, especially consider- ing that there is very little chance of the average person in most parts of the world ever setting eyes on one. With other animals whose range does not extend into your own backyard, you can expect to find them at your local zoo. But this is not the case with the panda. There are only a handful of zoos around the world at which onlookers can spend time observing a panda through the glass or railed wall of an enclosure. The panda is among the world’s most endangered species. As the 20th century draws to a close, the world’s various wildlife con- servation organizations collectively estimate that there are not

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