AITA for eating panda meat to save my life

hi all. i need to know if i was in the wrong here. i keep thinking about it and everyone’s making me feel like a monster but like. what else was i supposed to do?

so me (29m) and my girlfriend (27f) went on this like spiritual retreat thing in china. she’s one of those people who thinks "eating is a construct" and that the universe will provide or whatever. i went along cause i thought it’d be a cool experience and also i just wanted a vacation.

but then we got lost.

not like "haha took a wrong turn" lost. gone. vanished. deep in this endless bamboo forest, no phone signal, no food, just trees and the growing realization that we are absolutely screwed.

first day wasn’t bad. second day, we start getting weak. third day, my girlfriend is sitting on a rock talking about how the trees are whispering to her. i’m like "cool babe" but also i’m about to pass out. and then.the panda.

now, listen. i did not kill the panda. i need to be very clear about that. the panda was already dead. just lying there. totally, 100% naturally dead. maybe it died of old age. maybe it got hit by a meteor. who knows. all i know is, there was a dead panda, and i was starving.

so obviously i did what any rational person would do and i inspected the panda. just to, you know, confirm it was, in fact, deceased. which it was. completely, fully, absolutely dead. which is good, because if it hadn’t been dead, i wouldn’t have had to use the rock.

anyway, long story short, i did not kill the panda. but i did eat it. i realized bamboo is flammable, and i still had my lighter from the airport gift shop. and well. i made a bbq.

i made a whole panda bbq. i don’t even know how. the survival instincts just kicked in. i found a stick. skewered some panda meat. roasted it over the fire like it was a medieval feast. i seasoned it with some moss. i don’t know why. it just felt right.

and that’s when my girlfriend completely loses it. she starts screaming about "sacred creatures" and "the balance" and "how could you do this" which is kinda weird considering i did not kill the panda. i offer her some bbq, because i am a good boyfriend, but she just screeches like a banshee and takes off running.

i chase after her but i’m weak. panda meat is dense and my stomach isn’t used to it. i puke a little. by the time i find her, she’s just… there on the ground not moving.

i check for a pulse. nothing. i have no idea what happened. did she starve? did she just, like, decide to die?

locals found me the next morning and they were pissed. apparently eating panda is like, super illegal. i played dumb and they let me go but they knew. they looked at me like they knew.

now i’m home, everyone’s mad at me, her family is saying i "should’ve protected her" and i’m like bro from what.

so. am i the angel?