The Last Refuge: One Woman's Glimpse of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Page #4

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Her confinement

disturbed Pan

who was himself

held prisoner in the late

Sixties during the Cultural Revolution

"The Cultural Revolution

was a big mess

No one dared to

speak the truth

Because I told the truth

they put me in jail

beat me and pulled my hair

I thought:

the only thing I can do

is to insist

on seeking the truth..."

After 56 days of beatings and

confinement in darkness, Pan escaped

"Overcoming this

suffering has become the

basis for my conviction as

a scientist always to tell the truth"

In a Beijing classroom

Pan carries his campaign on behalf of

pandas to a

wildly receptive audience

Using props made from the skins

of pandas who died in captivity

Pan teaches about the

need to protect wild pandas

His stories evoke surprise

The children thought pandas

lived only in zoos

Pan wants to inspire understanding

of wild pandas in the generation

that will probably

decide their fate

In a country to nearly

with urgent human needs

he faces a long road

Even some friends cannot understand

why he leaves his home

and family several times a year

for the sake of a wild animal

the trip south to the Qin Ling mountains

is itself a test of resolve

then 14 hours by bus

For Pan, this journey retraces

the ancient retreat

the panda before advancing waves of human settlements

The last stands of wilderness

like the last pandas

survive only where food crops cannot...

at the highest edges of existence

For years, Professor Pan

and Lu Zhi conducted a lonely enterprise

But they have now attracted

a following of students

who staff the Qin Ling research

station in seasonal shifts

To Pan, they hold promise that the

panda will not be forgotten

And they have been

staunch companions in

an adventure that has

sometimes been an ordeal

"There were many difficulties

when we started this research

We always felt cold

and clothes were always wet

Lu Zhi got frostbite

on her face

and Ding Qian had

frostbitten fingers

Mid-December

Four months

have passed since the

birthing season

among Qin Ling pandas

Cubs are now old enough to

crawl from their dens

and are sometimes

found outside

while their mothers

browse nearby

Face to face with humans,

the cub seems by turns

reticent and full of bravado

To symbolize her importance

for the future of pandas

the two researchers have decided to

name her Xi Wang-meaning "Hope"

The christening

is of no interest to a baby

who may sleep 20 hours a day

even when guests are present

Easy slumber

is a panda trait

Nearby, her mother unwinds from

the labors of eating bamboo

Xi Wang seems vulnerable

But animal predators pose

less of a threat than humans

A panda pelt can bring poachers

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