China’s giant panda protection researchers are exploring a new
way to alter the destiny of the endangered species -- to return
them to nature after giving them relevant training in a simulated
wild environment.
The Bifengxia Giant Panda Base was planned and built especially
for the giant panda releasing. Construction of the first phase of
the base will be completed by the end of August. Sixteen giant
panda "pioneers" will be migrated from the China Research and
Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong to the Bifengxia
Giant Panda Base in September. They will be given wild training in
the base to alter their endangered fate. The program is so far the
world’s largest for giant panda migration.
An outline of the new panda home
The soon-to-be-completed new home for giant pandas is located in
the ravine of Bifengxia (Green Peak Canyon), at 1,100 to 1,200
meters above sea level. Bifengxia is under the jurisdiction of
Ya’an City in southwest China’s Sichuan
Province and is 148 km from Chengdu, the provincial
capital.
In the dense broadleaf forest with singing birds and murmuring
streams stands a big gate with the image of a lovely giant panda
carved on it, marking the entrance to the Bifengxia Giant Panda
Base. Walking through the gate and along the meandering mountain
slope for a while, you see several European-style cabins made of
bricks and tiles. These are the pandas' houses, including
kindergartens. Lush arbor plants such as camphor trees and oaks add
more mystery to the unusual environment. Soon your eyes are
brightened by an artificial lake of about 1,000 square meters. But
wait, the most amazing is the breeding ground in S shape, which,
separated from the outside by ditches, is dotted with water pools
and shrubs.
According to Wei Rongping, director of the base, there are over
20 places prepared for panda activities and scientific experiments,
such as panda grazing grounds, kindergartens for young pandas,
panda hospital and a scientific research institute.
At present, the base has 16 houses for the 16 coming giant
pandas, each of whom will have its individual residence. There are
also 16 grazing grounds, each covering at least 1,000 square
meters, nine times bigger than the central one in Wolong. Several
different varieties of bamboo, all favorites of giant panda, have
been planted in the base either by the water or on the slopes. The
new home for giant pandas will appear like a park with a natural
environment for giant panda, bamboo and human beings living in
harmony.
The base is built with investments from the State Forestry
Administration, according to Wei Rongping. The construction began
in October 2002, and the planned acreage totals 400 hectares. The
whole project will be completed in three phases. The first phase,
to be completed in August 2003, covers 70 hectares of land and
costs over 27 million yuan (US$3.26 million). Divided into the east
and west zones, the major function of the first phase is to provide
facilities for the research on giant panda’s breeding. Each of the
16 pandas in the first batch of migration will be moved into a
quarter best suitable for its habits and characteristics.
Upon completion of the whole project, the base will have four
functional areas for grazing, offices and living quarters, bamboo
base and training in the wilderness respectively. This new base is
a branch of the China Giant Panda Research and Conservation Center
in Wolong. With a vegetation rate of 80 percent, it will be built
into the world’s largest giant panda eco-park.
It is planned that in five to seven years, the base will have 40
giant pandas move in. And, a wilderness-releasing experiment area
and an ecological living area will be developed in the near
future.
Avoid close consanguinity
It's the first time for China and even for the world to migrate
artificially-bred giant pandas in such a large scale. With
technological breakthroughs in the breeding of giant pandas, the
panda population in Wolong has increased remarkably in recent
years. So, it has become an urgent issue to separate them into
groups.
Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong Nature Reserve
Administrative Bureau under the State Forestry Administration, said
that numbers of man-raised and wild giant pandas in Wolong have
increased to 67 and 150 respectively. In order to prevent
infectious diseases and consanguinity confusion, as well as to
decrease the pressure of the Wolong Nature Reserve, experts started
this project in 2000 to choose a new home for pandas. After
inspecting several places in Sichuan Province, including the
Minshan Mountains and Dujiangyan, and giving comprehensive
consideration to their geological and climate conditions, they
chose Bifengxia in Ya'an of western Sichuan.
Going through screening
Wei Rongping revealed that all of the 16 giant pandas in the
base will be raised through an outdoor method so as to encourage
them to develop abilities better fitting to natural environment.
The base will lead the world in raising panda in a semi-wide
way.
The man-raised giant pandas, who have been living a comfortable
life prepared for them, have mostly forfeited their natural
capacities. Through training of outdoor activities such as
tree-climbing and outdoor breeding, the pandas may improve their
physique and enhance their ability to survive in the wilderness
both psychologically and physically.
With respect to consanguinity, the giant pandas moving to
Bifengxia must go through strict screening. According to Wei
Rongping, the 16 pandas must be the most adaptable sub-adults of
two-five years old, though a certain ratio of adults will also be
included.
There are two plans for the panda migration. The first suggests
to remove all of them at one time, while the second is for moving
them separately in several batches.
Following whatever of the plans, during the adapting period
after the migration, detailed notes must be made to record how the
animals are affected by the new environment, including the local
conditions of earth, geography and climate.
All pandas in the base will dwell in high-class rooms with
adequate facilities such as air-conditioner and tap water.
According to sources from the Wolong center, three experts in
the field of panda research from Wolong have arrived in Ya’an to
get detailed knowledge about the local environment.
In Wolong, staff members are monitoring each giant panda’s
physical condition, following the tracks of each and recording
their habits and behavior. According to an expert in Wolong, once
the 16 giant pandas are selected, they will be put into isolation
for a while before traveling to Ya’an by Nissan vehicles.
The giant panda is widely known as a "living fossil." In 1961,
the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
selected the image of panda as its logo as well as the pattern for
its flag. Wild giant panda can only be found at the southern foot
of the Qinling Mountains and the northwest brink of Sichuan Basin.
With the threat of extinction, there are all together about 1,000
giant pandas in the world at present. In China, giant panda is
under first-class state protection.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingitng, August 5, 2003)