A giant panda raised in captivity for four years has just been released into the wild--the first captive-bred Panda to do this reverse-commute. Xiang Xiang has spent his life training for this moment at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in Sichuan province in China, according to an AP article. He's been learning how to forage for food, mark his territory, build a den, and defend himself.

According to this National Geographic article, Xiang Xiang was born at the center to an artifically inseminated mother. The World Wildlife Fund, whose logo uses a picture of this "charismatic" animal, estimates that there are only 1,600 pandas living in the wild today.

His experience "will help scientists study how artificially raised pandas adapt to the wild," Zhang Hemin, the center's head, was quoted as saying in the AP article. The Wolong Panda people have intentionally timed Xiang Xiang's release to coincide with the season's new growth of bamboo shoots.

As he makes his new home in the wild, Xiang Xiang will be tracked by a Global Positioning System device. That sounds pretty good, but might it be even more edifying to outfit him with a bear-cam?

But the hype surrounding any story about pandas brings up for some the uncomfortable issues of "charismatic megafauna," or animals such as tigers, elephants, and blue whales that hold widepread public appeal. This is from the Wikipedia entry on megafauna.

Charismatic megafauna often garner a disproportionate level of public concern. Environmental activists are aware of this effect and use the extra leverage provided by a charismatic species to achieve more subtle and far-reaching goals. By directing public attention to the plight of the Giant Panda, for example, the environmental movement can raise support not just for the protection of the panda, but for the entire ecosystem on which it depends.

There's an interesting discussion of this issue in the environmental magazine Gristmill. The author, Eric de Place, points out that unattractive, uncharismatic species make up the vast majority of life on this planet. De Place notes that simple good looks account for part of the popularity of the charasmatic species. "It may also have something to do with expressiveness," he writes. "Wolves and other charismatic species appear to express very human-like emotions...."

In addition to the defense suggested by the wikipedia article, that popular support for the habitats of charismatic megafauna can help preserve their entire ecosystems, de Place offers another interesting point of support:

Second, many charismatic megafauna are also considered keystone or indicator species. That is, a habitat that supports a certain animal must also support a certain array of other species in the ecosystem--where there are spotted owls, for example, there must also be old growth trees, voles, and flying squirrels. Plus, they're generally easier to monitor (it's easier to count sea otters than the spiny sea urchins they prey on) so focusing on charismatic megafauna is simpler.

Now here's some wierdly put information from the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center website:

Economic Importance for Humans:

Positive: Giant pandas have been hunted for their fur. In recent years the pelt has been considered a valuable sleeping mat; it is comfortable but also believed to have supernatural markings which prevent ghosts and help predict the future through dreams. A panda skin is highly valued--in Japan it carries a price tag equal to $176,000 (U.S.). Another positive is that giant pandas are popular zoo exhibits attracting many zoo goers. Produces fur, leather or wool; ecotourism

Negative: Besides the fact that the giant panda occupies land that humans want to clear for farming and logging, there are no real negative economic aspects of this species.

It seems to send a rather mixed message about the purpose for which they're preserving pandas.