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

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

Henry Nicholls. Pegasus (Norton, dist.), $25 (304p) ISBN 978-1-60598-188-8

For a shy, solitary species whose population numbers in the mere thousands, the giant panda carries plenty of symbolic and political clout. Nicholls, an English science writer, ably charts the emergence of the panda as a species and as the face of the World Wildlife Fund. He tackles the animal's potent role as "a symbolic ambassador for the Chinese nation" in its overtures to the rest of the world, particularly after the 1949 founding of the People's Republic of China, with initiatives known as "panda diplomacy." From the panda's Western "discovery" in 1869 by the Catholic missionary and naturalist Armand David to current conservation efforts in the mountainous Sichuan province and in zoos worldwide, Nicholls examines the notion of the panda as "charismatic megafauna," science-speak for an animal so appealing that it has became the poster child for endangered species on a global scale. When Nicholls sticks to descriptions of the animal's natural history, his writing is clear, crisp, and instructive, and this accessibly written book manages to weave together science, politics, conservation, and the interactions of a rising China with the rest of the world. It's clear that the panda itself is the only part of the species' story that should be presented in black and white. (June)