Earlier this year Canada received a rare and valuable gift from China. Two giant pandas, Er Shun and Da Mao, are on loan to Canadian zoos for 10 years.
The giant panda is an icon and national treasure in China. This gesture is hailed by some as a sign of friendship and good relations between our two nations.
Pandas are an endangered species. There are only 1,600 left in the wild, all living in the temperate rain forest of central China.
A few more are loaned out to zoos and used as international bargaining chips. These bears remain under the protection of the Chinese government.
Er Shun and Da Mao just arrived in Canada where they will spend five years in Toronto and then hang out in Calgary for five more.
Everybody loves pandas. They are one of the most beloved animals in the world and a powerful symbol for wildlife conservation.
Other, more profit-minded observers are rubbing their hands in anticipation of lucrative trade deals with China.
For them, Pandas are a foot in the door to riches from the east. Wealthy Chinese businessmen are already spreading their money around in our country.
At this point it is important to note that Er Shun and Da Mao arrived in Canada alive and well and will be returned to China that way.
This is noteworthy because Canadians also have an icon and a national treasure that also happens to be a big, lumbering bear.
Polar bears are a beloved symbol of the Canadian Arctic and just like the pandas, they are an endangered species and an icon for environmental protection.
The melting sea ice has put these white giants under tremendous pressure. The U.S. Geological Survey predicts they will be about two-thirds extinct by 2050.
By the end of this century it is expected that only a small population will survive, somewhere in central Canada.
Estimates vary but there are now around 20,000 polar bears living in the wilds of Canada, U.S., Russia, Denmark and Norway.
Of these, only Canada allows ursus maritimis to be hunted for sport. In the spirit of economic development the polar bear’s endangered hide has made it a hot commodity.
At the big fur sale in North Bay earlier this year one skin sold for a world record price of $22,000. The average price per hide has recently doubled.
Taxidermist Eugene Kline bought 10 skins for his own use – the most expensive was $16,000.
Everybody loves polar bears, even in rug form or mounted in a life-like ferocious pose. The Chinese, well-known panda protectors, are nuts about the things.
Unfortunately, whitey doesn’t survive well in zoos and Canadians don’t lend out live polar bears as goodwill gestures to anybody.
However, we do allow them to be killed and then the bodies, or body parts, are sold on the lucrative international trophy market.
The most enthusiastic customers are – guess who – the Chinese. Price is no object.
One of Mr. Kline’s stuffed, life-sized polar bears is considered a high status, prestige possession in China and will fetch $70,000 or more.
Sadly, our unfortunate, white Canadian icons now have a huge price on their heads thanks to increasing demand and rising international prices.
They aren’t as lucky as the pandas.
Some elite Chinese businessmen even travel to Canada where, for $18,000, they can personally kill one of our precious, endangered bears and ship the carcass home.
But hurry – this economic opportunity will soon disappear with the polar bears. Get ’em while they still survive.
My fellow Canadians, I implore you – is this any way to treat a National Treasure?
