Chinese music played in the background as one dignitary explained how “a distinguished, very charismatic guest has been brought to Guadalajara.”
There was even a ribbon-cutting ceremony to greet the special visitor to its temporary new home.
But Shuan Shuan, the giant panda at the center of all the fuss, just chomped away on his bamboo shoot and stared back at the gawking eyes and photographers’ lenses with the nonchalance of a seasoned celebrity.
The Guadalajara Zoo has spent four million pesos to bring Shuan Shuan from Mexico City’s Chapultepec zoo for the next six months.
It’s an investment that just might pay off.
Some 1,000 visitors flocked into the new panda pavilion on its first day open this week – adults paying 30 pesos for the privilege and children 15 pesos.
Once inside the loosely Chinese-themed pavilion, visitors can spend more of their money on products ranging from cuddly toy pandas to panda keyrings, pillows and slippers. Ironically, the stock hails from China, where the panda’s natural, bamboo-laden natural habitat continues to shrink.
Mexico has an interesting history with pandas. This was the first country outside China to breed pandas in captivity after the government of the People’s Republic loaned out Ying Ying back in 1985. Pe Pe and Ying Ying had seven offspring, the first of which was Xin Xin and the second Shuan Shuan, born on June 15, 1987.
“We’ve flown Shuan Shuan’s keeper from Mexico City to Guadalajara so he can feed her and monitor her behavior,” said Chapultepec Zoo General Director Jose Bernal Stoppen. “They’ve been together for ten years so the keeper has become like a father to Shuan Shuan.”
Although Shuan Shuan has a loving human father, she’s unfortunately never found a mate.
After being dragged to Japan for a year specifically for the purpose, she preferred the celibate life.
“Female pandas are very picky about who they mate with,” said Guadalajara Zoo General Director Francisco Rodriguez. “That’s part of the problem of why they are in danger.”
With only between 1,500 and 3,000 left in the wild, some have even suggested that the fate of the Giant Panda should be left to mother nature instead of plying millions of dollars into their conservation.
“I’d eat the last panda if I could have the money we’ve spent on panda conservation back on the table for me to do more sensible things with,” said famous British naturalist Chris Packham in 2008.
The argument seems to be that if girls like Shuan Shuan can’t even be bothered to mate themselves, then why should humans save them.
However, the unveiling of Shuan Shuan was one of the biggest days in the 22-year history of Guadalajara Zoo. And the opportunity to see a giant panda doesn’t come up that often.
To put things in perspective, only 35 zoos house giant pandas in captivity outside of China. In the United States there are only four zoos where you can see them and Canada is a panda-free zone.
The Guadalajara Zoo is open seven days a week during the school summer holidays. The Premiere ticket, which includes the Panda Pavilion, the safari park and aquarium, costs 130 pesos for adults and 80 pesos for kids. The zoo is located at Av. Paseo del Zoologico in the Parque Huentitan, near the intersection of Calzada Independencia and Periferico Norte , just past the Estadio Jalisco. Open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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