Because they like giant pandas, people pay attention to their every move and care about their joys and sorrows. To protect giant pandas, in addition to paying attention to individual giant pandas, we need to pay more attention to giant panda groups and understand their habits and needs.

Recently, Guo Shijun visited Sichuan, the hometown of pandas, and came to the Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center and the Giant Panda National Park to visit the giant pandas living here and the people who care for them, and learn more about them. Conservation progress and future plans for giant pandas. During the visit, China Shijun learned that doing the following things well is crucial to protecting giant pandas.

Protect the habitat

In the case of giant pandas! At the Shenshuping Base of the Conservation Research Center, the reporter saw that many giant pandas were enjoying the fresh bamboo shoots and bamboos carefully prepared by the keepers. The innocent appearance of the giant pandas "holding" the bamboos and feasting on them caused tourists to tremble. bursts of laughter. Giant pandas usually live in mountain forests at an altitude of between 1,200 meters and more than 3,000 meters. The Shenshuping Base located in Wolong, Sichuan, at an altitude of about 1,700 meters, is the ideal home for giant pandas.

For decades, my country has steadily increased the number of captive giant pandas through artificial breeding and other methods. As of the end of 2022, the number of captive giant pandas in my country has reached 698. However, taking good care of giant pandas in zoos and conservation bases is not the end of giant panda protection. Reviving wild populations is the ultimate goal of giant panda protection.

The reporter learned that through a "two-pronged approach" of in-situ and ex-situ protection, the number of giant pandas in the wild in my country has also resumed growth. According to official statistics, the number of wild giant pandas in my country has recovered from the lowest number of about 1,100 to 1,864.

In view of the recovery of the giant panda population, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List was updated in 2016, and the giant panda was downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable" in the list.

"Although giant pandas have been 'downgraded', the current protection of giant pandas still has a long way to go." Wang Yanfei, deputy director of the Ya'an Management Branch of the Giant Panda National Park, told China News Service, "According to my country's " According to the Wildlife Protection Law, the giant panda is still a first-level protected animal in my country and is very rare. The number of giant pandas in the wild has not yet recovered to the level of more than 2,000 in the 1970s, and the distribution of giant pandas in the wild is not balanced enough. There are 33 local populations, but 18 of them have less than 10 giant pandas, and there are about 10 very small populations with only one or two giant pandas. These small populations can easily become extinct, and protection of endangered species Small populations are in serious need of attention.

Giant pandas have existed on the earth for 8 million years, and their footprints have spread throughout my country's three major river basins: the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the Pearl River. However, due to the increasing impact of human activities, the giant panda's habitat has gradually shrunk to the six mountain systems in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces.

Wang Yanfei said that the main reason why small populations of giant pandas in the wild are facing the pressure of extinction is human activities. For example, the current density of giant pandas in Daxiangling and Xiaoxiangling in Ya'an is lower than the national average. The main reason is that previous deforestation, herdsmen grazing, and highways have destroyed the giant panda's habitat. "Giant pandas in captivity are fed when they eat and looked after when they are sick, but giant pandas in the wild need to have enough territory and food. Therefore, it is very important to protect and build the habitat of giant pandas, and this is the next step. One of the key points of giant panda protection work”

Over the years, our country has vigorously implemented key ecological projects such as natural forest resource protection, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, wildlife protection and nature reserve construction. Panda habitat conditions have improved significantly. The area of ​​protected giant panda habitat has increased from 1.39 million hectares to 2.58 million hectares. 53.8% of giant panda habitats and 66.8% of wild giant panda populations have been effectively protected.

In October 2021, the Giant Panda National Park with a total area of ​​more than 22,000 square kilometers (more than 2.2 million hectares) was officially established. The area of ​​​​the giant panda reserve was further expanded, and at the same time, the area of ​​​​the giant panda habitat was further enhanced. Connectivity.

“The establishment of the Giant Panda National Park is an upgrade to the original protection. The Giant Panda National Park has 82 protected areas involving giant pandas. Through the construction of the national park, these protected areas can be connected in series to solve the problem of To address the problem of habitat fragmentation, the national park also includes all potential habitats of giant pandas to achieve the greatest possible protection of giant pandas," Wang Yanfei said.

The reporter saw that in the Ya'an area of ​​the Giant Panda National Park, locals While the forestry department has further strengthened forest patrols, communication and cooperation and other work to strengthen ecological protection, it has also taken into account development, and has launched brands such as "Easy Walk in Sichuan, Pandas Visit Ya'an" and "Giant Panda 1869 Traceability" in the national park. The general control area develops nature education, science research and other projects to attract tourists for sightseeing and lead the development of local residents. At the same time, it also allows the public to enhance their understanding of the ecological and environmental protection of giant pandas while visiting.

Protecting genetic diversity

Scientific research shows that protecting genetic diversity is crucial to the health of biological populations. It can not only increase the adaptability and viability of the population; Provide a richer foundation for biological reproduction.

Statistics predict that the captive giant panda population can maintain 90% of its genetic diversity for up to 200 years, and has basically formed a healthy, dynamic, and sustainable population, laying a solid foundation for the rejuvenation of the wild population. Foundation.

“However, judging from the situation in the wild, there are still situations where genetic exchanges of giant pandas are interrupted due to habitat destruction, and individual isolated small populations gradually disappear and become extinct, and the genetic genes of these small populations will Disappeared forever." Wu Daifu, director of the Wolong Hetaoping Base of the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center, said that paying attention to the continuation of small populations in the wild is crucial to the conservation of giant pandas.

Over the years, my country has mainly used two ways to improve the genetic diversity of giant pandas: one is to improve genetic efficiency through genetic management measures such as artificial breeding, and the other is to increase genetic flow and increase the number of giant pandas through wild reintroduction and wild introduction. Genetic diversity.

From the perspective of genetic management, my country began to explore artificial breeding of captive giant pandas in the 1960s, and established the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center and Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding in the 1980s. The research base specializes in research on the breeding and protection of giant pandas. Through years of unremitting exploration by scientific researchers, since the 1990s, my country has overcome the difficulty of natural mating of captive giant pandas through breakthroughs in artificial breeding technology and achieved The number of captive pandas is growing steadily. However, so far, the problem of natural mating of captive giant pandas has not been completely solved, and further scientific research is still needed.

Introduction and reintroduction into the wild are another important way to improve genetic diversity. Through the "introduction" of wild rescue, new genetic genes will be added to captive giant pandas and the population will be increased. The genetic "pool", through the "going out" of wild reintroduction, will help enrich the genetic diversity of small wild populations and achieve the purpose of rejuvenation.

“After giant pandas are released into the wild, it is not only necessary to observe the living conditions of the giant pandas in the wild, but also to observe whether they have reproductive contributions and whether the released giant pandas have reproduced with small wild populations. This is important for scientific research. It is of great significance to the long-term stability of the giant panda population." Wu Daifu said.

Currently, a total of 11 giant pandas have been returned to the wild in my country, and 9 have survived, which has effectively promoted the rejuvenation of small wild populations. In addition, they successfully gave birth to 5 litters of 8 cubs through wild introduction, and 7 survived. Without destroying wild population resources, the captive population was supplemented by blood, further ensuring the sustainable development of the captive population.

Hetaoping Base undertakes the important tasks of wild introduction and wild training and reintroduction of giant pandas in my country. The reporter learned that the release of giant pandas into the wild in my country is not just about releasing captive giant pandas into the wild, but has explored a more scientific and mature model - a two-stage wild training of mother animals and cubs. The pandas are put into the semi-wild area in the first stage to give birth and raise their cubs. At this stage, the keepers will regularly provide food to the mother (but not contact the cubs). After the mother has taken care of the cubs for a period of time, she will enter the second stage. The panda cubs will be released into a larger area of ​​the nature reserve in the second stage to survive. Finally, when the cubs grow up, they will be completely released into the wild. During the entire stage, the cubs will survive in a semi-wild and wild environment. Help the giant panda cubs adapt to the wild environment after release.

It is understood that in the future, Hetaoping Base will accelerate the innovation and promotion of key technologies such as giant panda training, release, and monitoring, and strive to release 3 to 6 giant pandas every year, and pass Introduce species to increase the protection of endangered small populations of wild giant pandas, gradually establish a genetic germplasm resource bank of wild giant pandas, and realize two-way exchange of genes between captive and wild populations.

Wu Daifu said that since the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park, more rewilding training areas have been planned and constructed, which will be more conducive to the future rewilding and reintroduction work.

What can the public do to protect pandas?

In recent years, with the increase in public awareness of giant pandas, the protection of giant pandas has attracted increasing public attention. For the general public, we cannot directly take care of the daily life of giant pandas and increase the population of giant pandas like scientific researchers and breeders. What can we do to protect giant pandas?

In addition to paying attention to individual giant pandas, paying attention to cute "Internet celebrity" giant pandas, treating giant pandas as our "pets", celebrating their birthdays, and queuing up to watch giant pandas, what we should do is to fully understand Habits of giant pandas and their real needs, pay attention to giant pandas and protect giant pandas with a scientific attitude.

In addition, for wild animals, humans have occupied too many wild animal habitats and too many earth resources. The warming global climate has also reduced biodiversity, threatening It is the home of giant pandas and other wild animals. Therefore, we should strive to live a low-carbon life in our daily lives and minimize the use of earth resources. This may be the best protection for giant pandas that each of us can do.