The panda has been a rare and exotic beast since ancient times, but its status as a "national treasure" is not innate.
In different periods, pandas have different names and different uses.
In the "History of the Five Emperors", it is known as the Qi, which is a beast domesticated by the Yellow Emperor and used to fight wars;
In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is called an iron-eating beast, a black and white fur, a bear-like beast, eating copper and iron;
In the Shanglin Fu, it is called the tapir, which is the object of royal hunting;
During the Western Jin Dynasty, it was known as Si Yu (驺虞), because of its meekness and fondness to eat bamboo, which symbolized peace. The two armies are at war, and as long as one side raises the flag, the battle will stop;
The Tang Dynasty, known as the white bear, was a precious animal, and Wu Zetian once gave the white bear and fur to Japan.
It can be seen that in ancient times, the panda was just a strange beast, and the ancient people must have hunted it.
In modern times, people have also hunted pandas, and in 1988, giant pandas were listed as national protected animals.
How did the panda go from beast to national treasure?
Pandas are endemic to China, but it is not Chinese who really let the world know about pandas, but Father David of France.
In March 1869, Father David saw a black and white fur in a farmer's home and was instantly attracted to it, thinking that it was a strange "new species", so he hired 20 hunters to hunt for pandas.
However, the first red panda harvested by Father David was dead, and the hunters killed it for the sake of convenience.
It wasn't until May that a live panda was caught.
Father David planned to transport the cute panda back to France, but due to limited transportation conditions, before it left Chengdu, the panda died, and finally had to make a specimen and send it back to France, which was the world's first panda specimen.
At that time, the giant panda did not have a universal name, and when the specimen was exhibited, because of its resemblance to the kitten bear, the museum director officially named it "cat bear".
Due to the habit of Chinese reading from the right to the left, when the specimen of the big cat bear was exhibited in Chongqing, the horizontally written "cat bear" was misread as "panda", which is the name we commonly use now.
At that time, some people also came out to correct it, but because the panda was barking smoothly, it also shouted like this, and then passed it down.
As soon as the giant panda came out, many countries in the West went crazy about it.
Groups of explorers came to China in search of pandas, hoping to own the cute animal and ship it back to their country, but no matter how hard they tried, they took away panda specimens, not live ones.
The one who really brought the living panda out of the country was Ruth, an explorer determined to fulfill her husband's last wishes, who went through all kinds of hardships to capture a red panda and named it "Su Lin".
In order to bring the pandas out of the country, Ruth used "extraordinary means". It can be said that Su Lin was smuggled out, and Ruth sold Su Lin to the zoo for a good reward.
Su Lin's giant panda exhibition, the public really got to know this animal up close.
According to reports, the zoo where Su Lin was housed has a maximum of 40,000 visitors a day, which is the largest number of visitors since the zoo opened. Giant panda related products, sold out, are very popular.
But it is this love that pandas have also suffered more damage, and more and more poachers.
According to statistics, since the mid-1950s, at least 240 pandas have been captured in the wild and sent to foreign countries for display, not including those who have died.
At that time, we did not have any protection for pandas, and there were no restrictions on foreigners hunting, and foreigners came to China to hunt pandas, and it seemed that as long as they had money, they could do it.
It wasn't until the 1940s, when pandas had been on fire abroad for more than half a century, that we began to restrict the wild catch of foreigners.
With so many catches, the next step was our extremely difficult conservation path.
China's uniqueness, rarity, cute form, and outstanding diplomatic performance are the main reasons why pandas have become national treasures.
Are pandas weak? Why do I need protection?
Pandas are protected and cared for so much, and the number is still not much, is it not because it is too weak?
This is the doubt of many people, but in fact, pandas are not weak.
Pandas are essentially not cats, but bears, belonging to the bear family, surviving for at least 8 million years, and are veritable "living fossils".
Being able to survive for so long shows that it is very strong, at least the wild giant panda is not weak.
First of all, the weight can reach 180 kg, strong, the skin is also very thick, the thickest place is 10 mm.
Second, feeding on bamboo is a clever strategy that at least doesn't conflict with other carnivores, while retaining the carnivore's ability to eat meat.
Third, poor reproductive ability?
Many large mammals are also this strategy, having one litter in a few years, and only one for each litter, all of which are to ensure the survival rate of offspring.
In general, pandas are scarce today, and the main reason is not that the pandas themselves are weak, but because of the influence of humans.
Since ancient times, pandas have been hunted, and after being introduced to the West, foreigners have also joined the hunt.
Coupled with the fact that New China had just been founded, the population had surged, and a large amount of land was used by humans, the habitat of pandas was greatly reduced.
It was not until 1963 that the Wolong Nature Reserve was established, which gave the giant pandas a chance to breathe.
Under such a premise, the giant panda's poor reproductive ability has accelerated the endangered status of the giant panda.
Fortunately, through our efforts, giant pandas have now turned from endangered to vulnerable, and the number of giant pandas in the wild has reached more than 1800.