鈥楶arents鈥 who adopted 鈥榓 stick of butter鈥
Print Edition
DECKED out in cartoon pandas from his T-shirt to his socks, William Burke has flown to southwest China from Hawaii with his wife, Karom Burke, to see their adopted pandas.
At the first Chinese International Panda Culture Communication Activity, which ended on Sunday in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, more than 60 panda “parents” from around the world had a chance to visit the bears they have sponsored through donations.
“I was so surprised that a giant panda cub could be as small as a stick of butter when I first saw Tai Shan at the National Zoo in Washington DC in 2005,” said Karom Burke.
Her husband added: “Karom and I then decided to adopt a panda. Look, this one on my T-shirt is our first daughter, Bai Xue.”
Since 2007, the couple has sponsored three pandas: Bai Xue, Bai Xue’s son Jin Ke, and Bai Xue’s granddaughter Lin Ping. The bears have become part of their family. “When Bai Xue died last year, we were so sad that we had lost a family member,” said Karom.
“But there are happy moments too,” added William. “We were so excited when pandas were upgraded from ‘endangered’ to ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List last month.”
Over the past 16 years, Pandas International, an NGO has provided incubators, formula, and toys for pandas in Sichuan, bringing advanced medical equipment and restoring bamboo at panda bases in the province, following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.
So far, more than 5,000 people from over 20 countries have participated in Pandas International activities.
With the help of Pandas International, Japan Panda Protection Institute and other organizations, 731 individual sponsors and businesses have been matched with pandas over the past four years, according to China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
Since 1996, when the center first sent pandas Bai Yun and Shi Shi to the United States for a 12-year breeding program, a total of 26 pandas have traveled abroad, resulting in 17 cubs.
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