When a baby panda is born, it is a furless little animal that weighs about a-fourth of a pound. Imagine a stick of butter--to a mother who weighs about 200 pounds.
The capture of the panda and Ruth's maternal feelings for it as they make the journey to the U.S. make this book an excellent read. I'm rushing to finish the last pages before my writing group arrives tonight.
Many pandas have been killed in the wild, stuffed, and taken back as trophies, but this little guy was fed formula from a baby bottle and treated like a human baby and delivered safely (in spite of Ruth's flu and countless red tape obstacles) to the U.S. where it could be viewed by thousands.
Not only was the Giant Panda considered the "most valuable animal in the world," but it is universally loved for its human-like baby features: the big head, the rounded body, the big eyes. I remember learning at the Washington D.C. Zoo that pandas are not sociable animals, that the males and females only meet briefly for mating, then are indifferent to each other and other pandas.
Su Lin looks like the quintessential teddy bear in this picture, snuggling up to his mama.
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