Giant panda fans retrace steps of first Westerner to encounter the animals

Wildlife enthusiasts in China will retrace the steps of the French zoologist who made giant pandas known the West to mark the 140th anniversary of their 'discovery'.

By Heidi Blake
Published: 9:54AM BST 14 Aug 2009

Pandas were virtually unknown outside China until Father Jean Pierre Armand David described one that had been shot by hunters in Ya'an, Sichuan province, in his journal of 1869.

The discovery by the French zoologist, botanist, and Catholic priest engendered more than a century of fascination with the black and white bears in the West.

Panda lovers can join a 220 mile hike following in the footsteps of the explorer, departing from the Sichuan capital Chengdu on August 15 and arriving at the Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya'an on August 25.

The hike, which is being organised by officials from the Ya'an tourism board, is intended to educate visitors to the city about the endangered animals and their protection.

Father David lived in China for 12 years, faithfully recording his experiences and discoveries in a journal, written in French. In the entry for March 11 1869, his entry translates: "When I was on my way back to the Church, I was invited to have a rest in a Mr Li's home. In his home, I saw the panda's skin. It's big and beautiful, coloured black and white.

"The skin was quite peculiar. Li told me that I would see this animal very soon, for his hunters were going to hunt this animal... it seemed that a new species in the science domain will be found."

Two weeks later, Father David wrote: "After leaving for 10 days, the hunters were back today. They brought a young whitebear to me. It was caught alive, but was killed only to bring it back more easily.

"The body of the whitebear was all white except that the legs, the ears and the places around its two eyes are black. It has the same skin colour as a grown-up bear that I have seen before. I believe it to be a new species, not only because of its skin colour, but also because of the hair beneath its feet and other characteristics."

The zoologist sent the "whitebear" - a baby panda - to Melne Edwards, the director of the Natural Museum of Paris, who studied its skin and skeleton and published a paper in 1870, declaring it a new species and naming it Ailuropoda melanoleuca.

She wrote: "In terms of external features, it is really very close to bears; but its skeleton and teeth are apparently different from bears – actually very close to raccoons. It must be a new species."

The expedition to mark the anniversary of Father David's discovery will culminate at the Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya'an, to which the largest collection of captive giant pandas was moved after the main Wolong research centre was destroyed in last year's Sichuan earthquake.

Ya'an has enjoyed a 35 per cent surge in tourism since the panda collection was moved to its green peak canyon, receiving 2.79 million tourist visits in the first four months of 2009 and earning 12 billion yuan.

There are roughly 1,590 pandas living in the wild around the country, mostly in Sichuan and the northern Shaanzi and north-western Gansu provinces. A total of 180 have been bred in captivity, according to Chinese sources.

Father David was sent to Beijing in 1862, shortly after his ordination as a Catholic priest, to begin a collection of botanical and zoological material for the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

As well as the giant panda, he found 68 new species of birds, over a hundred species of insects and many mammal species - including Pere David's deer and the golden monkey.

He summed up his discoveries in a lecture to the International Scientific Congress of Catholics at Paris in 1888, and his journal was published sixty years later under the title Abbe David's diary: being an account of the French naturalist's journeys and observations in China in the years 1866 to 1869.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/6015065/Giant-panda-fans-retrace-steps-of-first-Westerner-to-encounter-the-animals.html