Pandas Live on

Captive pandas get special training to help them be their best in mating

Because captive pandas don't go through the same rigors of their wild counterparts, continually searching for food while climbing mountains and all of the obstacles that come with mountain life on a regular basis, the scientist at the research bases have developed exercises to help captive pandas maintain strength in areas that are needed for successful natural breeding.  One such exercise helps the males maintain strength in their hind legs. 

This video was just released showing 8 year old Yong Yong taking part in one of these exercises at the Chengdu Panda Base.  

 

VIDEO: Panda trains for mating season

By: ABC15.com staff CHENGDU, CHINA - New video from China gives us a glimpse into what it takes to get giant pandas ready for mating season. The males underwent physical training on Wednesday in order to build up their strength for future mating at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

One of the male pandas in training, Yong Yong, just finished mating in April and is already in training for next year. Keepers demonstrated one of the exercises, in which food is attached to the end of a long pole with string, enticing Yong Yong to stand up and catch the food and exercising the muscles of his hind legs. The keeper explained that the power of the hind legs is very helpful to the panda's mating and added that domesticated male pandas are often not as muscular as their counterparts in the wild.

The nearly 8-year-old Yong Yong successfully mated with female panda Yuan Yuan in April and is now starting his new round of physical training in order to get ready for next year's breeding season. 

Brave Tao Tao reaches final stage toward wild release

After becoming so enthralled with what I saw as cute, adorable giant pandas living in the zoos around the world, (see Tian Tian in photo below) I began to think about how wild pandas lived.  There was very little about wild pandas several years ago, but these days they are almost in the news weekly.   

Most of the stories I found about wild pandas in China were cases where the bears had come down from the mountains into local villages foraging for food after harsh winters.  Stories also revealed ill or injured pandas discovered by villagers, who got word to nearby panda bases.  The researchers evaluated the condition of the panda, if needed, they would bring the panda back to the base to renourish or medically help them to return to good health with the goal of releasing them back into the wild.  You have to keep in mind that these bases are inside or along the fringes of the panda habitat.

In recent years the use of motion-triggered 'camera traps' set up by the researchers in the panda habitats, have begun to help scientists to answer an enormous range of conservation and ecological questions about the bears.  Wow, what amazing sights these photos revealed.  You can view more of these photos at the Smithsonian 'Wild' website.

Now these same researchers have been working on a unique program over the last two years to release young pandas back into the wild. Huang Yan, deputy chief engineer of the China Conservation  and Research Center for the Giant Panda tells us, "We have no choice but to release captive-bred pandas into the wild to protect the natural environment," said Huang. "By providing wilderness-survival training for these animals, we hope to introduce them into a number of small groups, 
helping to increase the wild population and maintain their genetic diversity."

I now introduce you to young Tao Tao, who with his mother Cao Cao were the first to be a part of this program and are getting close to taking their first steps into the wild.  It has been an amazing story to follow.  You can also keep up with this program on the Centers special website Wild Introduction. 

 

Here is a recent article that authors Jiang Xueqing and Huang Zhiling (China Daily) wrote about the project.  They have done a great job of summarizing the program, giving us some insight as to what the scientist and pandas have achieved to progress successfully through to the third and final stage.  

I plan to be a part of this program myself through a program that the Earthwatch Institute has put together with the CCRCGP,  with an expedition called, 'On the Trail of Giant Pandas'.  Along with a small group of 12, we will be working with the researchers to observe and monitor these very pandas that are going through the wild introduction.  

I just discovered this myself and barely got onto one of the teams.  There are 9 expedition teams planned for this year and depending on how these go this year, the center will decide what expeditions may or may not be offered in the future.

There may still be some open spaces available for this year or you can put yourself on a waiting list for next year if you are interested just check out the link above for EI.

Read over the article below, it will reveal a whole new world of the giant pandas to you!

Pandas set to take a walk on the wild side

Updated: 2012-06-08 08:07 By Jiang Xueqing and Huang Zhiling ( China Daily)

Bears to be released into natural habitat, Jiang Xueqing and Huang Zhiling report from Wolong and Dujiangyan, Sichuan province.
It took at least two hours for our all-terrain vehicle to bump along the rugged mountain road from Dujiangyan, a city near Chengdu in Sichuan province, to the Wolong National Nature Reserve. Devastated by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and subsequent mudslides, the dangerous state of the road means that very few tourists ever visit Wolong.