This week, I got my update from the WWF about their work with pandas.

When I first sponsored a panda, they sent over information about Zhu Xiong, suggesting this was the specific panda that my money was going towards. I doubted that very much, but either way, that has come to an end anyway.

From the newsletter:

…it’s been a while since our team in China have spotted her. We think she may have retired to an area where it’s too remote and inaccessible to find her anymore.

Or, of course, she has passed away, because she reached the “grand old panda age” of 15. Aww. So, instead, my small donation each month is going towards 43 other pandas… which is sort of what I’d figured anyway.

The newsletter also highlighted the Yele Nature Reserve, which is over 240 sq km and houses just 10 pandas. They recently managed to get some pictures of them, which is quite incredible considering the vast size of the area they’re in.