As most people know, animal welfare is one of the many things that gets me all riled up and unable to sleep at night. So, imagine my horror when researching an email to my pal Daniel at The Born Free Foundation I came across this video of a hapless (and rather ignorant) tourist attempting to cuddle a rather unwilling panda.
The place is the Wolong Giant Panda Breeding Centre in China. It’s essentially a conservation project but sadly, the welfare standards are comprised by the drive for cash. This cash is raised from misled tourists who think it’s a good idea to give a panda a cuddle.
So what’s wrong with cuddling a panda? Well, the trouble is, these panda are being captively bred so they can be reintroduced to the wild. It is widely accepted that reintroductions of captive bred animals is hit or miss and efforts are likely to be unsuccessful is the animal becomes too tame. Its only healthy for wild animals to have a degree of fear of humans – it stops them from being hunted or captured. If the pandas used for cuddling aren’t destined to be reintroduced then the centre is basically sacrificing these individuals welfare for the good of the other pandas. Surely this is questionable at best and immoral at worst!
My advice is to steer clear of anywhere that offers animal cuddling (other than domestic animals). If you want to cuddle a bear, get a Care Bear! Plus you get browny points for retro chic too.
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