Is it true that every Sichuanese has a giant panda? This group of people replied: It was all "cheated"!

Imagine if there was a job that allowed you to avoid the long queues of people and enjoy the beauty of giant pandas alone, where you could not only feed them but also hold them in your arms, and even more so, act as the "wet nurse" and "father" of panda cubs and the "matchmaker" for single young people, what would you be willing to give up?

There is such a group of people at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (Panda Center). Their happy smiles in the video of holding giant pandas make people feel like they have won the career "lottery". But in fact, they rarely "stop" in their daily work, but have to run all over the mountains and fields to chase giant pandas. At that time, even in the hot summer, they don't care about watermelons, air conditioners, and mobile phone signals. Moreover, they cannot leave their true appearance in the minds of giant pandas.

"We should strive to create a 'human-free' world for the wild giant pandas." As the advocate of the entire wild reintroduction plan, Zhang Hemin, director of the Panda Center, has long laid the tone for this action. In order to protect the national treasure he loves most in his life, he resolutely gave up his American "green card" and plunged into the mountains for more than 40 years. Following in his footsteps, Wei Rongping, Wu Daifu and others have also successively devoted themselves to this work. So far, it has been more than 30 years.

Zhang Hemin, Director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda

A world without humans

"Mom, this place seems like a magical world!" The childish words were innocent, but they expressed the true feelings of everyone who visited the Wolong Shenshuping Base and Hetaoping Base of the Panda Center.

It is so quiet there that it seems like a paradise. All the hustle and bustle seem to be very far away. There is only a stretch of endless green bamboo forest between heaven and earth, with occasional milky white clouds and mist. The giant pandas are hiding in the mysterious realm that is looming.

Deep in the jungle and clouds, there is a group of Wolong "panda people" stationed - they wear black and white soft cloth clothes that look like pandas all year round, and sometimes they smear panda milk or feces on their bodies to camouflage to the greatest extent, shuttle between dense and dangerous jungles, looking for pandas' traces and collecting their life data. This almost makes them suffer a lot, sleeping in the open air, hot summers and cold winters, but whenever asked about their biggest wish in life, all researchers will firmly say the same answer: "The wish is to completely release the giant pandas that they 'invisibly' protect back to the mountains and forests, that is the world that truly belongs to them."

Wu Daifu transfers the panda cub wearing work clothes painted with the scent of the giant panda mother

In fact, the real road to wild reintroduction is only a few hundred meters long, but the process of getting there is extremely difficult. The panda "Xiang Xiang" is the biggest regret on this road.

In April 2006, 5-year-old Xiang Xiang became the first captive giant panda to be released into the wild. As researchers watched with concern, Xiang Xiang disappeared into the mountains. Eight months later, Xiang Xiang's location signal suddenly disappeared. The "panda people" at the Panda Center rushed into the mountains to search for him, and finally found Xiang Xiang, who had unfortunately passed away, in a snowy field. It was determined that Xiang Xiang had a "war" with wild giant pandas for territory and fell from a height to his death.

In 2010, as the captive giant panda population grew steadily, the Panda Center decided to launch a new round of wild training projects and handed the responsibility to Wu Daifu, Wei Rongping and others. However, the shadow of the panda "Xiang Xiang" still lingered in their hearts, forcing them to re-examine and repeatedly rehearse the new round of release work.

"After the giant panda cubs are born, humans have to hide and the mother panda will take care of them instead." Wu Daifu, the person in charge of the Walnut Ping base, always has a simple and gentle smile on his face and speaks slowly and steadily with a thick Sichuan accent. But as soon as he talks about technical issues, his face becomes serious and his speech speed speeds up. "The cubs must receive wildness training from birth to get rid of their dependence on humans and retain their wildness."

Therefore, they began to build a simulated wild world in the enclosure: dense trees, bamboo forests and steep slopes, with few traces of human activities. The selected giant panda mothers usually have some experience in living in the wild, and will complete the birth and feeding of their cubs here, and teach their cubs to avoid natural enemies, find food and water sources and other wild survival skills.

The "bear life" of those giant panda babies will be completely different from that of captive giant pandas from now on - no warm dormitories, no basins of milk, no human-faced "nannies" to carry them "home on time". Even if you occasionally see the "guardian angels" walking upright on two legs, they all look like pandas.

Researchers wearing panda suits examine the baby giant panda

"We tried all kinds of ways to 'trick' the pandas. We once used sniper-like mesh clothing and straw raincoats, but we felt that they were not suitable. Finally, we decided to use relatively light black and white suits made of soft fabrics, so that they can always be in touch with the most familiar appearance." Wu Daifu gestured in the air with his fingers, counting the panda costumes they have updated, and finally said firmly, "In short, the concept of rewilding is to make pandas afraid and stay away from people as soon as they sense them. Only in this way can they return to the jungle smoothly in the future."

The Wild Child

Rewilding is so difficult, yet so important.

"The purpose of releasing giant pandas into the wild is to increase the number of wild giant pandas in small populations, improve their genetic diversity, and eliminate the risk of extinction of small populations of giant pandas. While achieving the long-term survival of wild populations of giant pandas, it also provides a reference for the protective release of other large mammals, maintaining and restoring natural biodiversity." Since graduating from Sichuan Animal Husbandry and Veterinary College 32 years ago, Wei Rongping has been working at the Panda Center, but the one lesson he has never gotten used to is watching his "children" go on a long journey.

Wei Rongping holds a giant panda cub

After the panda cubs are one year old, both mother and cubs will be transferred to larger wild enclosures with more complex natural environments for training, so that they can learn to live in the more difficult wild environment.

In October 2012, in late autumn, the forest was covered with a bleak yellow, and Wei Rongping and others were in a heavy mood. The door of the cage opened, and the two-year-old "Taotao" was a little nervous and ran towards the forest without looking back. It didn't know that after taking this step, it would have to face a jungle full of natural laws alone.

In a hidden corner dozens of meters away, Wei Rongping and others stretched their necks and stared at the moving figure intently. He felt that Taotao was very petite, making the specially made collar look very big. "I am particularly worried about whether it can live healthily in the wild." But at the same time, he was full of joy because Taotao finally returned to the world that belonged to it.

In the misty mountains, time seems to pass in the blink of an eye. In the more than 30 years that Wei Rongping has been rooted here, some things have not changed, such as even with 5G, it is still difficult for him to get a mobile phone signal when he inspects the mountaintop; but more things have changed: it used to take a day to get to Wolong, but now it takes at most 2.5 hours; the number of captive giant pandas in the center has grown from 6 to more than 300.

Life is like the sea. Some of his old classmates went abroad, some went into business. When old friends met, they would often make a harmless joke: "You haven't 'come down the mountain' yet?" "Journey to the Far Mountains" is Wei Rongping's WeChat name, and it is also his answer.

"I am still very lucky. I can see progress every year. Everything is moving in a good direction." After saying this, he smiled and looked towards the distant mountains. There, there are the giant pandas calling.