Giant panda’s cuteness may have averted extinction
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(Teh Eng Koon/AFP via Getty Images)
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The giant panda’s reproductive and eating habits made the species vulnerable to extinction, but it may have been saved by its cuteness and cooperativeness. Smithsonian Institution wildlife veterinarian Marc Valitutto and biologist Melissa Songer have been working with conservationists at China’s Chengdu Research Base, which started as a shelter for injured or sick pandas, to study pandas and acclimatize captive animals to survive in the wild.
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