On July 6, about the time the film Kung Fu Panda became a global box office smash, 12-year-old giant panda Guo Guo gave birth to twins in Ya’an City, China’s Sichuan Province. She was the first panda to bear cubs since the May 12 earthquake and, worldwide, she was the first panda to give birth in 2008.
Audiences at screenings of Kung Fu Panda were charmed by the animated hero, Po, a bungling yet endearing giant panda who aspired to be a marital arts warrior. In reality, the giant panda mother Guo Guo, doesn’t live in the Peace Valley, as does Po. She lives in Wolong, Sichuan Province, a beautiful place of green mountains, dense forests, and limpid rivers. But the 5.12 earthquake shattered this panda paradise.
A Mission More Urgent
Wolong National Nature Reserve is near the Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County, less than 10 kilometers away from the quake’s epicenter. Comprising a total area of 200,000 hectares, Wolong Nature Reserve is China’s largest giant panda reserve and a core protection area of the giant panda sanctuaries designated as a World Natural Heritage site. More than 150 wild giant pandas live in the reserve.
At 14:00 on May 12, the giant pandas of Wolong were lounging around, as is their after-lunch routine, not sensing that a catastrophe would take place in 28 minutes. “When the earthquake struck, rocks on the mountains gave way and tumbled down. Gigantic stones and earth rolled into the rivers, stirring up muddy water. Waters were brought high up in the sky by strong air streams and overflowed everywhere, making us unable to open our eyes. Foul water and mud were everywhere in the Giant Panda Park, and people there were also covered by mud,” recalled Huang Yan, vice senior engineer of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
At that time, there were more than 20 staff people and 35 foreign tourists in the park. The park’s gate was blocked by gigantic rocks, and all were trapped inside. The staff’s first concern was protecting the tourists and the giant pandas. “It is our duty to protect them,” said a park employee.
The pandas were very agitated by the quake. Adult giant pandas were disturbed, restless in the enclosures. Baby giant pandas suffered from anxiety and attempted to hide away. Seven sub-adult giant pandas (from 1.5 years old to four years old) were so anxious that they climbed up on the stumps and refused to move. After the tourists were evacuated and transferred to places of safety, at risk to themselves, the staff attempted to find and rescue those pandas trapped in the ruins. Each time they found a frightened panda, they comforted the animal and gently took it to safety.
Only one hour later, 14 giant panda cubs born in 2007 were rescued. Very soon, seven sub-adult giant pandas were rescued and quite a few adult giant pandas were transported to safe locations.
Under Threat
Landslides caused by the quake destroyed and buried much bamboo, upon which giant pandas feed, and the waters in the reserve were contaminated, a grave threat to the giant pandas’ health. The collapse of mountainsides across vast areas hindered giant panda migration, leaving many in separation. Passages connecting male and female giant pandas were cut, greatly hindering and forestalling the breeding of wild giant pandas.
The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda is located in Hetaoping, Wolong. The largest and best-known giant panda breeding base in the world, the center was severely damaged in the quake. Fourteen of 32 enclosures were buried or damaged and made useless. The 18 remaining were badly damaged. Six out of the 63 giant pandas living in captivity at the base were missing as of May 12. After one month of nonstop effort, five were recovered, and one was found dead.
Seeking Safety
After the quake struck, a group of experts from the Geological Hazards Emergency Investigation from Sichuan Provincial Office of Land and Resources conducted a geological hazard evaluation of Hetaoping, Wolong. They believed that Hetaoping Base presented substantial potential for hazard, putting at risk both the staff and the giant pandas. To enhance levels of safety and preparedness, China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda formulated an emergency evacuation plan for giant pandas living in captivity in Hetaoping Base.
On May 18, eight giant pandas, including Lang Lang and Cui Cui, were transferred to Chengdu Research Base of the Giant Panda Breeding, and on May 24 they were relocated to Beijing for exhibition before, during and after the 2008 Olympic Games.
On June 18, 13 sub-adult giant pandas began to live in Bifengxia Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, Ya’an City, Sichuan Province.
It is reported that Bifengxia Base is constructing another 17 temporary enclosures for the newly-arrived giant pandas. At the same time, Hetaoping has transferred 27 female giant pandas due for mating this year, breeding male giant pandas, and some baby giant pandas to Bifengxia Base. They were moved in groups within one month after the earthquake. All the giant pandas will return to Wolong after the center is reestablished.
Creature Comforts
Sometimes leaning their heads against stumps or gobbling their bamboo, giant pandas express fear and anxiety in various physical ways. “The earthquake has greatly impacted the stable breeding of the pandas. They now become easily frightened, often creeping and tiptoeing around, not as active as before,” says Zhang Hemin, chief of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau. This sort of tentative behavior is to be expected. Like humans, pandas require psychological comfort.
On the night of May 12, all the baby giant pandas born in 2007 were placed in a wooden house of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau. During the daytime, the staff took them out of the house and played with them to ease their anxiety and uneasiness.
In contrast to the rapid recovery of the baby giant pandas, their elders took a much longer time for psychological recovery. “After the quake, they now tend to be anxious and irritable. Thus, on the one hand, we keep them from strangers, leaving them in a tranquil and peaceful environment. On the other hand, we pay more attention on their dietary disposition. Since they are not readily fond of bamboo from Henan Province, we feed them the bamboo mixed with other food so that they can get used to it gradually,” says Zhang.
Welcome to Beijing
On May 24, eight giant pandas from Wolong boarded a special plane in Chengdu; landing 2.5 hours later at Beijing Capital International Airport.
These eight pandas were chosen out of 16 candidates by the online poll “2008 Sichuan Wolong Olympic Giant Pandas Touring Beijing” beginning on March 21. Four female and four male, the group of eight ranges in age from one to two years.
Upon arriving in Beijing, due in large part to residual mental effects from the quake, most giant panda babies had poor appetites and behaved nervously. “After they came to Beijing, we attached great importance to their psychological recovery,” says Wang Pengyan, deputy chief of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau. The recovery effort involved a lot of close contact with people. Through stroking and petting, giant panda keepers helped relieve the animals’ stress. After the treatment, there was an obvious gain in their appetites and activities. Some even gained 2 or 3 kilograms in weight.
To house in comfort these eight Olympic giant pandas, a new giant panda hall was constructed at the Beijing Zoo. Within a total floor space of 2,300 square meters and on two levels, the eight giant pandas live in three 20-square-meter enclosures. Air-conditioners keep the temperature at a panda-preferred temperature of 25 centigrade. The environment is similar to that of Wolong, with ponds, lawns, and resting racks.
The giant pandas have adjusted themselves to the new environment and are in good spirit. “According to our original plan, these eight pandas will return to Wolong in November,” says Zhang Jinguo, vice president of Beijing Zoo. “But since Wolong Nature Reserve was badly damaged in the quake, they will stay in Beijing longer. It depends upon the speed of Wolong’s reconstruction.”
Respite and Refuge
Relocating the giant pandas is just a temporary measure. In a few years they will return to Wolong. “With a comparatively high altitude and a moist climate, Wolong is an ideal place for the growth of bamboo. Besides, Wolong is the best giant panda habitat. The newly-constructed giant panda park will still be located in Wolong, and the giant pandas living in captivity will not be transferred out of Wolong,” says Li Desheng, deputy director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Wolong Nature Reserve.
In July, 2007, with an estimated total fund of 2.02 billion yuan, the Sichuan Wolong Nature Reserve Post-quake Reconstruction Plan was put into effect, as conceived by Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau, Peking University’s Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, and Beijing’s Turenscape.
According to the reconstruction plan, the 203,000-hectare Wolong Nature Reserve will be divided into three sections: The Core Area; Buffer Area; and Experimental Area. Reconstruction will take place from 2008 to 2015. The short-range plan runs three years, while the long-range plan is set for five years.
The new research center will be set in Gengda Village, Wolong Nature Reserve. Included in the new center will be a 650-square-meter panda research center, a giant panda hospital, a wild training field, a logistics zone, and a bamboo base. Most importantly, the 1,500 square-meter giant panda enclosures will provide each residing giant panda high levels of comfort and security. Thirty feeding enclosures and 20 breeding enclosures are planned.
The re-constructed Wolong Nature Reserve will be developed to achieve one overall goal: Provide China’s giant pandas with an ideal environment in which they may live long and prosper.
(Special Thanks: Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau)
