BEIJING (AP) - China's beloved national symbol - the panda - may have been seen quite differently by ancient humans: as food.
Scientist Wei Guangbiao says prehistoric man ate pandas in an area that is now part of the city of Chongqing in southwest China.
Wei, head of the Institute
of Three Gorges Paleoanthropology at a Chongqing museum, says many
excavated panda fossils "showed that pandas were once slashed to death
by man."
The Chongqing Morning Post
quoted him Friday as saying: "In primitive times, people wouldn't kill
animals that were useless to them" and therefore the pandas must have
been used as food.
But he says pandas were much smaller then.
Wei says wild pandas lived in Chongqing's high mountains 10,000 to 1 million years ago.
The Chinese government
invests greatly in studying the native species and trying to ensure its
survival. Pandas number about 1,600 in the wild, where they are
critically endangered due to poaching and development. More than 300
live in captivity, mostly in China's breeding programs.
Rescue crews are working through the night after a monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburbs, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of splintered wood.
Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least...
Tuesday, May 21 2013 11:43 AM EDT2013-05-21 15:43:07 GMT
Lakota Local Schools will be dismissing early on Tuesday. Because of low water pressure, school administrators tell 13abc that all grades will be dismissed at 11:45am. There will also be no afternoon
Lakota Local Schools will be dismissing early on Tuesday. Because of low water pressure, school administrators tell 13abc that all grades will be dismissed at 11:45am. There will also be no afternoon preschool.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 10:49 AM EDT2013-05-21 14:49:55 GMT
Toledo firefighters are on the scene of a house fire on the city's East side. Firefighters were called to a home on Thurston Street between Woodville Road and Starr Avenue just after four this morning. There
Toledo firefighters battled flames at two homes on the east side Tuesday morning. A firebomb ignited the porch of a home in the 400 block of Thurston Avenue. Three adults and two children were inside. They were able to make it out safely.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 10:31 AM EDT2013-05-21 14:31:38 GMT
Portions of Moore, Oklahoma were ravaged by a mile-wide tornado this Monday afternoon. This follows a near-record quiet start to tornado season. Strong storms may reach northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan by Tuesday.
Recovery efforts continue in Moore, Oklahoma after a catastrophic tornado on Monday. The tornado season that began quietly in 2013 has roared to life this week. Severe weather is possible in Northwest Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday. 13abc and 13abc.com will update throughout the day.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 6:30 AM EDT2013-05-21 10:30:27 GMT
Coast guard crews are searching for a missing boater in Lake Erie. Authorities aren't releasing a name, but they say this person left Meinke Marina in Curtice, Ohio Monday afternoon. The person was due
Coast guard crews found a boater reported to be missing on Lake Erie Tuesday morning.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 6:15 AM EDT2013-05-21 10:15:41 GMT
Investigators with the arson unit have a person of interest custody possibly linked to a fire at 727 Euclid.The fire started before 4:30 this morning on Euclid near Starr.Investigators say it was a vacant
Investigators with the arson unit have a person of interest custody possibly linked to a fire at 727 Euclid.
Monday, May 20 2013 11:18 PM EDT2013-05-21 03:18:47 GMT
For some people in Northwest Ohio, the image of a massive tornado is something they only see on TV. But Allan Detrich puts himself directly in their path."Seeing the storms out in the plains, they're
A local man remembers being in Oklahoma City in 1999, when a massive tornado ravaged the city. Allan Detrich of Fremont says the area was devastated and Monday's tornado reminds him of what happened some 14 years ago.
Monday, May 20 2013 8:14 PM EDT2013-05-21 00:14:35 GMT
Severe weather is sweeping areas of the plains states. At least one person is dead and more storms are on the way today. ISOH/IMPACT is preparing to help those affected by the spring storms in Texas
A large tornado roared through the southern part of Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma Monday afternoon. Damage is extensive. Video showed blocks of flattened homes and vehicles tossed upside down.
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