Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
April 3, 2017
From poor eyesight to bad teeth,
needs of pandas grow with age
By Helene Franchineau
The Associated Press
UJIANGYAN, China — Failing
eyesight, poor digestion, bad
teeth, limbs no longer so limber:
With captive giant pandas living longer
than ever, the list of their physical and
even emotional needs is growing.
China, the native home of pandas, is
seeking to cater to those requirements
with a special home for the old timers
along with customized diets, exercise, and
other care aimed at improving their
quality of life.
“Of course we spend more energy taking
care of old pandas,” said Xu Yalin, a panda
keeper for 19 years at the China
Conservation and Research Center for the
Giant Panda Dujiangyan Base in the
southwestern province of Sichuan.
“Every day we need to interact with
them closely and check their mental state,”
Xu said. “We also examine their feces, the
shape of it and so on. We worry more about
the old pandas than the juveniles.”
Pandas are considered old after they
turn 20. The current longevity champion,
Basi, recently turned 37 and lives in
Fujian province in southeast China.
Of the roughly 30 pandas at the base, Xu
is responsible for three, all of them over 20
and starting to develop health issues from
failing eyesight to poor digestion and teeth
worn down by a lifetime of chomping
bamboo. Those who can no longer handle
coarse bamboo shoots get the more tender
leaves instead. They eat, sleep, and do
little else, to the delight of the visitors.
One of Xu’s charges, a 24-year-old
female named Qiao Yuan, gets fruits and
smooth corn porridge rather than the
D
FORTUITOUS FIND. Two tiger cubs investigate a rock along a forest trail while their mother walks past
them in the jungle in eastern Thailand. Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation
along with two private organizations have announced they have photographic evidence of new tiger cubs in east-
ern Thailand, supporting a scientific survey that confirmed the existence of the world’s second breeding popula-
tion of the tigers. (Photo/Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation/Freeland via
AP)
Thai jungle seen as breeding
ground for Indochinese tigers
By Kaweewit Kaewjinda
The Associated Press
ANGKOK — Conservationists say
they have evidence that the
critically endangered Indochinese
tiger is breeding in a Thai jungle, giving
hope for the survival of an animal whose
total population may be less than 300.
Thailand’s Department of National
Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation
along with two private organizations have
announced they have photographic
evidence of new tiger cubs in eastern
Thailand, supporting a scientific survey
that confirmed the existence of the world’s
second breeding population of the tigers.
The other breeding ground is in the Huai
Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in
western Thailand.
The Thai agency, along with Freeland,
B
an organization fighting human and
animal trafficking, and Panthera, a wild
cat conservation group, said only 221 Indo-
chinese tigers are estimated to remain in
two Asian countries, Thailand and Myan-
mar (formerly known as Burma).
It is feared that tigers, which once
ranged across much of Asia, are now all but
extinct in southern China, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam, and much of Myanmar, the
groups said in a joint statement.
Indochinese tigers are smaller than the
better-known Bengal and Siberian tigers.
“Poaching for the illegal wildlife trade
stands as the gravest threat to the survival
of the tiger, whose numbers in the wild
have dwindled from 100,000 a century ago
to 3,900 today,” it said.
The statement noted the tigers’ “re-
markable resilience given wildlife poach-
Continued on page 11
GERIATRIC PANDAS. Keepers cut up bamboo
leaves for elderly pandas, some of whom suffer from
bad teeth and poor digestion, at the China Conserva-
tion and Research Center for the Giant Panda Dujian-
gyan Base, in Sichuan, China. (AP Photo/Helene
Franchineau)
wowotou bread made of corn and sorghum
that younger pandas receive.
“Another panda, who was rescued from
the wild, does not eat bamboo because of
his bad teeth, so every day we chop bamboo
leafs and mix them with pieces of the corn
and sorghum bread with carrots and
apples,” Xu said. “It’s like a bamboo-
flavored salad.”
Xu visits Qiao Yuan first thing each
morning to ensure she had a good night.
While feeding her a snack of carrots and
apples, she performs several exercises
aimed at checking Qiao Yuan’s eyesight
and teeth. She also has her stand up, to
make her stretch her limbs.
Dinner is at 4:00pm — more bamboo and
porridge, which Qiao Yuan eagerly slurps
up.
“Looking at Qiao Yuan’s behavior at her
age, you can’t help but think about an old
human being that has difficulty eating and
walking,” said Xu. “Taking care of an old
panda is just like taking care of an old
person.”
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