Matteo Placucci

Giant fishbowl panda

What is life like for the six pandas in the Beijing Zoo, one of the few places in the world, where these animals live in captivity?
A giant panda in front of the closed door of its cage, Beijing Zoo, China 2018

Matteo Placucci

Giant fishbowl panda

This post is also available in: Italiano

Beijing Zoo is one of the few places in the world where Giant Pandas are kept in captivity. At the moment the Chinese zoo has six resident Pandas, all of them adults and in “single rooms”. It should be a pleasure to observe such beautiful and serene animals, but once arrived emotions fall apart.

Animals are sad and apathetic in an environment made of a patchwork of resins, cement and plastic trees. How can they even think of having a life or a simple reproduction in a place like that?

On top of this situation, visitors are disrespectful of the animals: the most common behaviour is punching the glass to stimulate the Pandas to move or simply making them glance in their direction to take yet another selfie together.

How can these animals be happy to live there if every day, for the whole day, they receive this fish-bowl treatment?

giant panda
A Giant Panda at the open air | Beijing, China 2018
Text & Photos:  Matteo Placucci
Original text in Italian - In-house translation
Cina
Beijing, Cina
Matteo Placucci
DooG's Author
Photojournalist

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