Japan's "Xiang Xiang" and the United States' "Ya Ya" return to China! How difficult is the road to protecting giant pandas?

There were numerous banners, fans were crying with excitement, the airport was bustling with people and packed with people... Where did this superstar come from to have such a grand ceremony?

It turned out to be Xiangxiang, the giant panda living in Japan, who was going home.

On February 21, the giant panda "Xiang Xiang", who is deeply loved by the Japanese people, departed from Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan and returned to Japan on a chartered flight. "Xiang Xiang" was born in June 2017 and is the first giant panda successfully bred naturally in Ueno Zoo.

How popular is "Xiang Xiang", who is already over 5 years old, in Japan?

The fans who cried and said goodbye at the airport were only a small part of the group. There were many more people who often went to Ueno Zoo to queue for 3 hours just to meet Xiang Xiang for 2 minutes, this giant panda who has become a superstar since birth.

It has its own personal documentary, has appeared on variety shows, has a photo album, and its peripheral products are selling well. Its die-hard fans have taken 10 million photos of it...

During this journey home, Japan provided Xiangxiang with VIP treatment. The keepers specially prepared a large amount of bamboo, rice balls and other food for it to ensure Xiangxiang's dietary needs during transportation.

The Ueno Zoo official account has become Xiangxiang's fan support station, reporting Xiangxiang's entire day's itinerary in great detail.

Yaya, another Chinese giant panda living abroad, was recently exposed to be living in the United States, but became thin and haggard due to illness. On February 24, we finally got the news that Yaya is expected to return home in April . We hope that after receiving treatment and care, Yaya will get better.

Yaya, a 22-year-old giant panda. Image source: worldanimalnews

The giant panda, a world-class flagship species unique to China, has gone through a bumpy journey for nearly a hundred years and was once on the verge of extinction.

How difficult is the road to protecting giant pandas? The story behind this is an epic of courage and hope accomplished by countless conservation workers.

01

Giant Panda

A veritable "Chinese national treasure"

The giant panda, as a "living fossil" and "Chinese national treasure" that has existed on Earth for at least 8 million years, is also the image ambassador of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and a flagship species for the conservation of biodiversity in the world.

The evolution of the World Wildlife Fund's logo has always been a giant panda. Image source: WWF

In ancient times, fossil records show that giant pandas were once widely distributed across much of eastern and southern China, as well as neighboring countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam.

Today, several isolated mountain ranges extending from the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - Qinling Mountains, Min Mountains, Daxiang Mountains, Xiaoxiang Mountains and Liangshan Mountains - are the last homes of giant pandas.

The Qinling Mountains are a natural barrier and the northernmost boundary of the giant panda's distribution.

These continuous mountains distributed in the three provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi contain temperate forests and dense bamboo forests. They have high humidity, heavy rainfall and cool temperatures, which are very suitable for the growth of bamboo. Giant pandas here make their homes in the mountains with gentle slopes at medium and high altitudes, and choose to live in bamboo forests shaded by tall trees.

For a long period of time in the last century, due to the blind activities of mankind, the habitat of the giant panda suffered unprecedented damage. The area of ​​its habitat shrank rapidly and became fragmented and unconnected. The population size dropped sharply, leading to the segmentation of the giant panda population, inbreeding, and species degeneration.

The isolation and fragmentation of this population is an important factor that threatens its long-term population. The inbreeding depression in small groups will reduce reproductive capacity, juvenile survival rate and resistance to disease. If this continues for a long time, the "island-like" members will eventually disappear completely.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

In order to prevent such a tragedy from happening, my country has gone through a long and arduous process of protecting giant pandas, and has achieved great results. In 2016, the number of giant pandas in the wild reached more than 1,800, and the threat level was reduced from endangered to vulnerable. The giant panda has become a symbol of wildlife protection in China.

02

The road to protecting giant pandas

How difficult is it?

As early as the 1960s, my country had established a number of nature reserves such as Wanglang and Wolong, but people still knew very little about giant pandas at that time.

It was not until the late 1970s and 1980s that giant panda conservation saw a major turnaround.

In 1978, Professor Hu Jinchu of China West Normal University established the first giant panda field observation station in China (and of course the first in the world) in Wolong National Nature Reserve , which is the famous "May 1st Shed". The conditions of the May 1st Shed were extremely difficult, and when it was first built, it consisted of only 6 canvas tents of different sizes.

In 1981, an international team led by Dr. Schaller joined the research work with the world's most advanced research methods at the time, including radio coil tracking technology.

After several years of hard work, the collaborative research team completed the world's first book that comprehensively explored the ecological environment and habits of giant pandas - "The Giant Pandas of Wolong" in 1985, setting an example for guiding wildlife conservation work through scientific research.

Giant pandas at the Sichuan Wolong Giant Panda Conservation Base. Copyright image, no permission to reprint

International cooperation not only helps the research on wild giant pandas, but also promotes the improvement of China's wildlife protection concept - paying more attention to wild populations, emphasizing the management of protected areas, and understanding the significance of wildlife protection from an ecological perspective.

In 1983, bamboos in the giant panda habitat of the Qionglai Mountains in Sichuan Province bloomed and died. When the media reported the news that “bamboos bloomed, and giant pandas ran out of food,” it immediately caused a response from the whole society. The Chinese people, who were not well-off, donated money to save the national treasure. Since then, the “save the giant panda” campaign has received a wide response. Scientific investigations and studies on giant pandas have also been carried out one after another.

The research conducted by an international joint research team composed of domestic and foreign experts such as Hu Jinchu and George Schaller in Sichuan and by Pan Wenshi's team from Peking University in Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province have put forward many scientific suggestions for the effective protection of giant pandas and have pushed the protection of giant pandas onto the right track.

Since 1974, China has organized four nationwide field surveys of giant pandas. The latest national survey data released in 2015 showed that there are 1,864 wild giant pandas in China, an increase of more than 700 compared with more than 30 years ago.

Replenishing wild populations is the ultimate goal of artificial breeding of wild animals. China has invested a lot of resources in the artificial breeding of giant pandas and has achieved considerable success.

Panda cub. Copyright image, no permission to reprint

Since 2005, Sichuan Province has taken the lead in releasing rescued giant pandas and artificially bred giant pandas into the wild. A total of 13 giant pandas have returned to the wild.

As of 2014, China has established more than 60 nature reserves with giant pandas as the main protection object, and is carrying out a pilot project for the Giant Panda National Park across the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu . For the protection of giant pandas and other wild animals, protecting their native habitats remains the most effective way.

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After 40 years, the giant panda has finally been downgraded, and we who love wildlife will continue to pass on these ideas and stories.

Welcome home, giant pandas.

References: "Magical Species: A Century of Wildlife Conservation in China" edited by Li Shuanke and Xi Zhinong

Source: China National Geographic BOOK