Looking back with Pambassador Ali Shakorian
All Pambassadors have had an amazing time in Chengdu.
Today we will be looking back with Pambassador Ali Shakorian:
I had seen them before on television and in books, their playfulness, goofy posture and their ability to make anyone smile. Still I was not prepared for the impression that Bao Bao made on me when I had my first real encounter with a Giant Panda at the Berlin Zoo. While he was eating I was laughing, while he was climbing I was gazing, while he was resting I was philosophizing.
Years later with a longer beard and a heart full of experiences I was dreamfully taken to the Chengdu Panda Base to receive my pambassador training. During the month I spent in the Panda Base I learnt the a to z’s of the Giant Panda. Everything from their birth, breeding difficulties, living habits and the unconditional support given by the Panda base personnel. Soon I was introduced to a Panda, her name was Jing Jing, I had a red apple and she an appetite. It was truly love at first sight.
One warm August night five years earlier Jing Jing was resting in her mother Ya Ya’s safe bosom weighing no more than 150 grams dreaming about endless bamboo fields. During my one month at the Panda Base I spent almost every day with her. She used to be awake when I got to her enclosure and we started the day by greeting each other. “Jing Jing ni hao”, I used to bellow with the Sichuanese accent my assistants Sophie and Yafei had taught me. Of course without a red apple in my hand the passionate response from her would sometimes be absent. It’s easy to forget that Pandas are wild animals, even in captivity the relationship between a keeper and a Panda can never be the same as a dog and her owner.
My favorite moments at the base and with Jing Jing were when me and my assistant stood by the enclosures and just observed the Pandas for hours. It was the moments when the true nature of this beautiful and majestic animal would shine through the cute black and white fur that I valued the most. The incredible sense of smell they have when they sniff out the very best leaves to make their delicious bamboo leaf bouquets. Their graceful movements as they effortlessly climb trees and the raw bearlike behaviors when mating season approaches.
Even though I was living with and studied pandas every day for a whole month, I never stopped being mesmerized by their charm and natural mystery. These walking fossils are a symbol of animal conservation around the world and within the challenges of their survival lays a reflection of our own efforts to live in harmony with nature. I feel truly honored and blessed to be a part of the Pambassador Project and to be able to contribute to the Giant Pandas cause. I still feel the same joy and amazement when I see pandas today as I did when I first saw Bao Bao at the Berlin Zoo. And after my experiences at the Chengdu panda base I am delighted to know that there are millions of people around the world that share the same joy as I do and hopefully one day The Giant Panda and all the animals that live in its habitat will not be endangered anymore.
Pambassador Ali Shakorian
P.S. Click here to see some of Ali’s panda pictures
