The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China's Political Animal

When I was in the midst of my quest to completely immerse myself in my panda obsession, I happened on Henry Nicholls' blog, The Way of the Panda. Imagine my delight when I discovered that he was about to publish a book about the social, political, historical, scientific, and pandalogical aspects of, well, pandas. His entertaining style of writing made me forget that he was imparting real information about the history of pandas and how they have become a major player in China's attempts to change their image on the world stage.This is a book for both panda lovers and those who hadn't ever really thought about pandas. For those of us who are already on the panda bandwagon, this book is both a celebration of all things panda, as well a sobering look at just why pandas made it onto the endangered species list. (I'll give you a hint. It wasn't the fault of the pandas.) It was a joy to read a non-fiction book that so totally engaged me and made me want to learn more.

This book is more like a history book, woven by Panda stories. Apparently the author want to achieve both ends but he doesn't do quite well. It looks like the things about panda are deliberately attached to history events while they, the panda, are just side effects or aftermath. So, interesting as the Panda story, not so serious to conclude anything like 'Way of panda'.

A book that I had heard about and wanted to read for a while. It's an excellent read if you enjoy pandas.

Excellent. Excellent. Contains a lot of information you never knew. A real insight to panda behavior. Well written and fascinating cover to cover.

Very prompt delivery, book was as described in very good conservation. Thank you!! Really good experience！

Chinese history is mixed with simultaneous timeline of the giant pandas history and how the two effect each other. It is easily read and is translatable to people who do not have an understanding of modern chinese history.

This book may be slightly out of date, released in 2011. Research is increasing and new techniques may change our understanding. This is an interesting book, a combination of history and conservation. It starts out with the animal slowly becoming known--to Europeans, the references in classic Chinese literature are ambiguous and the very reclusive animal might not have been known to many people in its rugged habitat. An interesting substory is Pere David getting sample panda skins to Europe (he's the same as in Pere David's Deer). The first several chapters cover the debate over whether the panda was a bear, and has stories of European and American explorers--nothing swashbuckling and one an American woman.Then come chapters on the political panda, most notably from Nixon's visit to China, where Chinese noted Pat Nixon's enthusiasm for pandas and they later offered a pair to the Washington zoo, the famous Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling. Panda diplomacy interlocked with public fancy and produced a lot of attention. There is also an excellent chapter on how the WWF was founded and then chose the panda as its symbol.Other segments of interest would be Chapter 7, "Sexual Politics," on the difficulties of breeding pandas and how the public has responded to panda cubs (very big money makers). Chapter 8 details the life after death of a London panda, Chi-Chi, who was studied and taxidermied, a more interesting story than it might sound like. Chapter 10, "Born Free," discusses the study of pandas in the wild and the later chapters focus on what boils down to study and conservation, in zoos and in preserves in China. There is very serious pressure on the animals in China, but Nicholls assures us that the Chinese effort to save pandas is large, well-funded and gaining lots of citizen support, so the future looks better than I had thought.One odd bit of information. DNA analysis has gotten good and cheap, so DNA can be sampled from scats (dung)--molecular scatology! This is important because it has shown that counts of wild animals seriously undercounted them.

Very interesting story tracing the way of the panda, from an almost unknown obscure animal to the face of WWF and an iconic symbol of China.The author has most certainly done his research and frequently digresses down political topics and other historical tidbits that somehow vaguely connects with the way of the panda.At times it feels like he's trying to put too much into the story. Maybe the book wouldn't have been as long if all the small, and some times insignificant, extra bonus details were left out, but it would have made it a more compelling read.It's a recommendable read though.

Vor 150 Jahren waren Pandas selbst in China praktisch unbekannt (es gibt keine alten Vasen, Dokumente o.ä. mit Pandas). Heute gehört der Pandabär zu den bekanntesten und beliebtesten Tieren der Welt. Zoos zahlen große Summen, um Pandas präsentieren zu können, Pandas wurden von China zur Diplomatie genutzt und heute versuchen Forscher in aller Welt herauszufinden, wie in Aufzucht geborene Pandas ausgewildert werden können. Zwischen der ersten Entdeckung eines Pandas durch einen Westler und heute ist also viel passiert. Und Henry Nicholls beschreibt, diese Geschichte. Das ist interessant, denn tatsächlich geht es außer um Biologie auch um Umweltschutz und um die Geschichte China. Der Autor schafft es hier nicht nur diese Geschichte (weitestgehend) chronologisch zu erzählen, sondern dabei aucb Schwerpunkte zu setzen und zu schreiben, wo die Schwierigkeiten der Pandaforschung, der Pandazucht und des Pandaschutzes liegen. Ab und an weicht er etwas von dem Pfad ab, um besonders erzählenswerte Geschcihten zu erzählen (so erinnert die Kontroverse um das Ausstopfen des Gorillas Guy in London an die Proteste bei Knuts Tod).Das Buch ist dabei sehr lesbar und bietet einen guten Rundumschlag - ein Buch zum stöbern über ein ungewöhnliches Thema (denn wer sucht den speziell noch der Geschichte des Pandabärens?). Es ist allerdings nicht so wahnsinnig lang - die Geschichte wird auf ca. 260 Seiten erzählt (der Rest sind Fußnoten, Register etc.). Dadurch liegt imho zwar eher eine Stärke - viel mehr wäre vermutlich etwas arg gewesen - aber wissen muss mans.

Awesome book about the Giant Panda and its history