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TOKYO - A historic moment
in wildlife protection occurred with the departure
of a team of Japanese zoo keepers and Ling Ling, a
giant panda, to take part in a breeding programme
in Mexico.
The programme also involves the San Diego Zoo in California,
which is the sponsor of this effort to help keep giant
pandas off the list of extinct animals, say Japanese
zoo officials.
The giant panda has become a symbol for international
organisations campaigning for the protection of endangered
species. According to the World Wildlife Fund for
Nature (WWF), there are currently about 1,000 pandas
in the wild in China, and some 114 in captivity, 99
of which are in Chinese zoos.
For Japan, which acquired its first pair of pandas
from China in 1972 as a symbol of bilateral ties,
Ling Ling's current trip inspires both hope and apprehension.
"Ling Ling is the sole survivor in Ueno zoo," explains
Fukuharu Sugimoto, one of the panda's keepers. ''We
are praying for the success of this breeding program."
Ling Ling, a 15-year-old male panda, was born as the
result of a successful artificial insemination program
in China. He will be on loan to Mexico, which has
only three female pandas.
A conference in San Diego last June on the desperate
situation of giant pandas, prompted the formulation
of a three-year breeding program between Japan and
Mexico to increase their panda populations.
The project stipulates that the first cub born will
be sent to Ueno Zoo and Mexico will keep the second.
The San Diego zoo is also entitled to one cub.
Last March, a sperm sample from Ling Ling was sent
to Mexico but produced nothing. If the current trip
does not work out, the agreement states that Mexico
will then dispatch a female panda to Tokyo.
Ueno zoo officials would not disclose the budget for
the landmark breeding effort, saying only that the
trips involved are the responsibility of Japan and
Mexico.
But conservationists point out the budget must be
enormous, as Ling Ling was accompanied by three Japanese
zoo keepers as well as other female pandas that will
undergo sophisticated artificial insemination treatment.
Sugimoto, however, says every effort must be pursued
to keep the pandas alive because their numbers continue
to dwindle as a result of the erosion of their natural
habitat in China.
''It's the perennial problem. Man versus nature and
the current environmental situation is so bad for
pandas that we just have to resort to this kind of
expensive programme,'' explains the keeper.
Wildlife experts, however, see Ling Ling's Mexican
trip in a different light. "We are against these breeding
programs on the grounds that wild animals are best
protected in their natural habitat," says Makiko Mizuno
of WWF Japan.
Mizuno explains, though, that not only environmental
destruction is causing extinction. She said the illegal
trade of wildlife is also to blame.
She points out Japan's foot-dragging on the ban on
the import of Chinese medicinal herbs that contain
tiger products or bears' gall bladders as an example
of how even protected animals such as the tiger and
bear, face the threat of extinction.
''We need to pour in more energy on stopping the illegal
trade as well as protect the biodiversity of the environment
to save the pandas before anything else,'' she explained.
A WWF panda programme in China where tracking and
breeding of wild pandas in an environment as close
to its natural habitat so that the animals can be
released to the wild, has been in place for more than
decade.
However, experts acknowledge the going is tough. One
problem is the difficulty in returning the animals
to the wild after they are bred in captivity, says
Mizuno.
Zoo keeper Sugihara also agrees with the argument
that pandas are best protected if they are allowed
to return to the wild.
''I think this system is the best for wild animals,''
he says. However, he stresses, that this is not possible
given the rapid development projects that encroach
on their natural habitats.
Sugihara, who is also a breeding expert, says he has
bred six species of endangered wild birds at Ueno
Zoo through artificial insemination.
''This is the only way I think to protect species
for the next generation,'' he explains, pointing to
the rare crested Ibis, the symbol of the nation, that
can no longer live in the wild as most of its natural
habitat has been destroyed by chemically polluted
water and soil.
Meanwhile, Japan is eagerly awaiting news of Ling
Ling's visit to Mexico. The huge furry black and white
creatures are adored by the public.
Outside Ueno Zoo, panda toys, stickers and various
other souvenirs that include panda-shaped cakes stuffed
with Japanese sweet-bean, are the hottest selling
items, say store owners.
Takatoshi Furukawa, chief of the Panda Institute,
an association of panda enthusiasts, expects a new
boom to hit Japan when Ling Ling's new cub is born.
''We can't wait,'' he says, adding that the panda
hysteria among the Japanese is so entrenched that
some people do not mind forking out 100,000 yen (almost
1,000 US dollars) for a small panda statue.
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