The myriad shades of green that surround me are coated with drops of moisture from last night's rain. The only sounds are muffled footsteps, mine and the local guide's, accented by drip, drip, drip, as the final drops fall from the canopy to earth. The aroma of this botanical profusion clings tightly to the early morning mist. My senses are on full alert. Suddenly a shaft of light breaks through a fissure in the fog to illuminate the gloaming and the cuddly, black and white innocence of my search. The giant panda is considered by World Wildlife Fund (for which it is poster child) to be the world's second most endangered large animal, after the mountain gorilla of East Africa. I am in the awesome presence of a species caught between here and eternity.

We are blessed to still have the panda's presence, that our days on earth are shared. Yet only a transformation of the human spirit can save this paragon of the living wild from certain extinction. Anything less and our brief infatuation with the panda will end in sadness.