121. GE exec: More than pandas and hotpot GE exec: More than pandas and hotpot 2013-05-21 07:07:21 Ma Jianing, vice-president of General Electric Zhang Haizhou / China Daily Ma Jianing and the multinational have found a home in Chengdu Ma Jianing always had a few questions for Americans when he was in the US - "Do you know pandas and hotpot?" "Do you know Chengdu?" The vice-president of General Electric China said "many Americans, no matter in New York or Washington DC or on the West Coast, know pandas and hotpot, but not Chengdu". Ma, who spent more than two years living in Chengdu beginning in 2002, recalls that "they were always shocked when I told them Chengdu is a city with more than 20 international flight routes". Not only Ma believes the capital of deserves more international attention. So does his company. The US conglomerate opened its first ever innovation center in the world last year in Chengdu focusing on the healthcare market. As the head of the China Innovation Center in Chengdu, Ma, has ambitious plans. "We want to make it a center for local healthcare and already have three products for the market. "We also would like to see the products from Chengdu go to the rest of the world," he said. The healthcare division of the GE recently significantly increased its investment in rural regions in China, a vital market for the financial health of all multinational corporations. The company sees the huge market potential in rural China, but knows it will be a big challenge for international giants to cater to the diverse needs of smaller hospitals, especially as Chinese medical equipment suppliers improve their competitive strength. GE's innovation center in Chengdu reflects its major push in that direction. Up to 80 percent of GE's healthcare equipment revenue in China comes from the upscale sector. But the company aims to boost income from its basic medical needs division to achieve a balance as early as possible. "We believe open innovation practices, especially the customer co-creation approach embodied in CIC Chengdu, is essential for multinational technology companies such as GE as we participate and contribute to China's future growth," Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said. Located in the west park of the Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone, the customer center combines R&D with marketing. In addition to local healthcare, it also focuses on shale gas drilling technology, new industrial automation solutions and green energy. "We want to let colleagues in our headquarters know that China is not just Shanghai and Beijing, but the west too. We hope that GE will be a frontrunner in local healthcare in western China," Ma said. He said the CIC Chengdu now has about 500 employees, 30 percent local hires and another 30 percent returnees from coastal regions. The company's ambitions are a contrast to when Ma first arrived in Chengdu in 2002. "There was only one building (in the CIC Chengdu's area). Even I couldn't eat the spicy food ," said Ma, who is from Nanjing in coastal Jiangsu province. Eleven years later, the high-tech park has not only attracted GE, but also at other global industrial giants such as Intel, Foxconn and Dell, which help form industry clusters in integrated circuits, photoelectric displays, software, service outsourcing and electronic terminal manufacturing. Ma has also adapted to local life. He has even learned a lot of the Sichuan dialect from his driver and sometimes incorporates it into his Putonghua. "Chengdu is an inclusive place," he said. "People know Chengdu for its slow pace and come here to relax, but it's actually also getting faster. "Chengdu's tempo is still a little bit slower than Beijing and Shanghai, but it's proper," he added. [email protected] (China Daily 05/21/2013 page19)

122. After disaster, wild pandas show their mettle ( China Daily ) Updated: 2013-05-11 page12

Wu Daifu has worked with pandas since he was 21, but he says the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake transformed his relationship with the animals - personally and professionally. The 36-year-old had worked as a keeper - feeding bears and cleaning cages - until Wolong National Nature Reserve's post-disaster reshuffle saw him appointed chief of the department responsible for introducing captive pandas into the wild. "We've since discovered many things," Wu says. "We used to believe pandas would get sick without human intervention. But they're stronger without it. It actually does more harm than good. That's why wild pandas are more resilient." He cites weaning cubs too early as an example of interference's harm. "They need more nutrients from their mothers," he says. "We've learned we should let them nurse until they're 2-and a-half years old, rather than 6 months like we used to. This makes a difference, especially when they're released." Wu's department has made other discoveries about human interaction, since most of his research focuses on disparities between captive and wild pandas. He says he was selected for the job chiefly because he had much hands- on experience with the species. He still leads the feeding and cleaning but now spends much of his day researching behavior at the base in Sichuan province. The reserve uses a network of 177 cameras over 2,400 square kilometers of "semi-wild" forest. The system was installed after the quake. Wu's team is focusing on two mothers raising cubs in the semi-wild area. They are prime candidates for release, authorities believe. He says he and his colleagues devote most of their time to their work. They live in a small room at the base. Most of their families reside in nearby Dujiangyan city, but they can see them only about once a month. But Wu says he doesn't regret his sacrifices. "Pandas mean a lot to me," he explains. "My job is meaningful and challenging. "People around the world love pandas. So do I," he adds. "If I can contribute to their conservation, I've done something meaningful."

123.US hoping for a panda pregnancy By Agencies in Washington2013-04-01 07:49:13 Veterinarians at the National Zoo artificially inseminated its female on Saturday after natural mating failed to occur, zookeepers said. Mei Xiang was put under general anesthesia and inseminated with a combination of fresh and frozen semen collected from the zoo's male giant panda, Tian Tian. The Washington zoo said scientists performed a second and final insemination later on Saturday evening. It will be several months before we know if she is pregnant,"" the zoo said in a tweet. Animal keepers detected a rise in panda hormone levels and breeding behaviors last week. A team of scientists performed the artificial insemination after keepers determined there had been no natural mating overnight between the two pandas. Veterinarian Tang Chunxiang traveled from China's Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province to assist. Dave Wildt, head of the Center for Species Survival at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, said, ""We are hopeful that our breeding efforts will be successful this year, and we're encouraged by all the behaviors and hormonal data we've seen so far."" Scientists will continue to monitor Mei Xiang's hormone levels in coming months and conduct ultrasound tests to determine whether she is pregnant. A pregnancy lasts between 95 and 160 days, they said. Mei Xiang has given birth to two cubs. One died a week after its birth last year. The other, , was born in 2005 and is now at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, Sichuan province. The panda house at the zoo has been closed since Tuesday but was scheduled to reopen on Sunday. Reuters-AP(China Daily 04/01/2013 page11)

124.Top hotel caters for pandas By Huang Zhiling ( China Daily) 2013-01-14 05:51page22 Panda experts from the Wolong National Nature Reserve pose for a picture with representatives of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts after planting bamboo trees in the Dujiangyan Giant Panda Rescue and Disease Control Center in Sichuan province. Huang Zhiling / For China Daily Staff volunteer to plant bamboo to nourish animal facing extinction Li Desheng, deputy chief of the administrative bureau of the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Wenchuan country, Sichuan province, gets excited when he recalls his recent participation in bamboo planting in the neighboring city of Dujiangyan. “Lots of representatives of the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and employees of Wolong planted bamboo trees together in a new plantation in the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, which is under the administration of Wolong, to mark a new agreement that will help feed pandas in the local panda rescue center,” he said. They are the first bamboo trees in a 1.6-hectare bamboo plantation that Shangri-La is sponsoring in the Dujiangyan Giant Panda Rescue and Disease Control Center as part of its Care for Panda project. Before planting bamboo trees, Zhang Hemin,chief of the administrative bureau of Wolong, which is China’s largest nature reserve for panda conservation, signed a contract with Shangri-La in which the Hong Kong-based luxury hotel group agreed to plant more than 9,000 bamboo trees in a plantation in the Dujiangyan center. The plantation will help provide food for the center's pandas. Currently under construction, the center, which is home to three old pandas rescued from the wild, will eventually house 40 sick pandas more than 25 years old or those in need of aid after suffering wounds in the wild, Zhang said. The three pandas living in the center are Pan Pan, aged 28, Qiang Qiang, 26, and Zi Yun, 24. Pan Pan is the aquivalent of 84 years old for a human being, according to Tang Chunxiang, assistant to the director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Covering 47 hectares, the center, whose construction started in September 2011, is expected to be completed this year. It will also be used as an institution to study pandas' diseases and a base from where the public can take special educational trips to learn about the plight of pandas and engage in activities such as preparing food for pandas in the panda-feeding kitchen. "We wanted to find an innovative way to contribute to saving pandas that went beyond sponsorship of individual pandas. Shangri-La is honored to be able to work with the center to support these highly endangered animals through our bamboo plantation and giant panda-feeding kitchens," said Patricia Gallardo, Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd's director of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The conservation and research center has three bases in Sichuan—one in Wolong in Wenchuan county, one in Bifengxia in Ya’an city and one in Dujiangyan city. While the other two specialize in panda breeding, the one in Dujiangyan primarily functions as a shelter for aging pandas and a disease control center for the endangered species. The world has only about 1,600 pandas living in the wild in China. 125.Rare panda cub plays to the gallery at By BEUTERS in San Diego,California2013-01-12 page6 , a 6-month-old, 7.3 kg male panda cub, is the latest addition to the San Diego Zoo's panda exhibit. Provided to China Daily Xiao Liwu, the newest surviving giant panda born in captivity in the United States, made his public debut on Thursday at the San Diego Zoo by shunning the media but shining for the public. During an hour-long, pre-opening introduction to the media and zoo volunteers, the 6- month-old, 7.3 kg male cub rolled in mud and hay, ignoring visitors. He woke up once the public arrived and poured on the charm, climbing a tree and posing for photos. Xiao Liwu, which means "little gift", was born on July 29 as the sixth cub of , the zoo's 21-year-old, 101-kg adult female panda. "(Xiao Liwu) is shy and very loving," said Kay Ferguson, the zoo's panda narrator. "He's inquisitive and he likes to play with balls. He's very different from Bai Yun's other five cubs." Despite stormy weather and cool temperatures, hundreds lined up for the two-hour viewing. Bai Yun mostly ignored the baby during the public display. She chomped on bamboo, taking a break only to get a drink of water while the cub played in a nearby tree. "With the first cub or two, she was very attentive, but the last, she doesn't worry about him at all," said Vivian Kiss, a panda fan. The cub, roughly the size of a stick of butter when first born, is still nursing and does not yet eat solid food, Ferguson said. "She'll nurse him until he's 18 months old, until she gets so grouchy she kicks him out," she said.

126.Airline sponsors giant panda By Huang Zhiling in Chengdu 2012-12-17 page22 The members of the delegation from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines who participated in the adoption ceremony of the in a group photo with the cuddly bear. Huang Zhiling / China Daily 1-year-old animal lives in nature reserve in Ya'an, Sichuan province Mention the giant panda and many people think of the song Giant Panda Mimi, which encourages better care for the endangered cuddly animal. As part of a new corporate social responsibility project, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines formally adopted Cheng Cheng, a 1-year-old female panda living in the Bifengxia Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Ya'an, in Southwest China's Sichuan province. The center belongs to the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Wenchuan county, Sichuan. Covering 200,000 hectares, Wolong is home to 81 endangered animal and plant species including the giant panda and the dove tree. As the largest of China's 64 nature reserves dedicated to panda conservation, Wolong has more than 170 captive pandas, accounting for about 60 percent of the captive pandas worldwide, in its China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. As envoys of peace and friendship, captive pandas from Wolong have visited more than 10 economies, including the United States, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong. "Since its establishment in 1963, Wolong has been supported by the Chinese government in its panda conservation. And people with vision worldwide have shown concern, too," said Huang Jianhua, Party chief of the administrative bureau of the Wolong National Nature Reserve. In June, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines named one of its Boeing 777-300 aircraft Wolong National Nature Reserve. "It is intended to raise awareness about the giant panda and bring together people from different fields to care for the endangered species," said Pieter Elbers, managing director and chief operating officer of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The name Cheng Cheng, the panda the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines formally adopted on Nov 20, was selected by around 1,500 micro-bloggers in a two-week competition run by the airline. A total of 280 names were received during the first stage, from which Cheng Cheng was finally selected by voting during the second stage. "Cheng Cheng, which means 'orange' in Chinese, is the national color of the Netherlands. As we are celebrating 40 years of diplomatic ties between China and the Netherlands, no other name can be more meaningful than this one," said Frederic Kahane, general manager of Air KLM Greater China. "The giant panda is perhaps the most powerful symbol in the world when it comes to the conservation of endangered species. Each time when we look at these peaceful bamboo eaters, it stirs up some irresistible caring emotions in us," he said. "KLM takes pride in contributing to the efforts of Wolong to protect endangered species. Our ambition is not only to set the standards for CSR but also to strengthen its positive impact for local communities like here in Sichuan," he added. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded in 1919, making it the world's oldest airline operating under its original name. In 2004, Air France and KLM merged to form Air France KLM. The merger produced the strongest European airline group based on two powerful brand names and hubs - Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and Charles de Gaulle Airport in . The two airlines collaborate on three core activities while maintaining their own identities - passenger transport, cargo and aircraft maintenance. Contact the writer at [email protected]

127.'Pandamania' bears take rocky French road to parenthood By RORY MULHOLIAND in Saint-Aigan,France Agence France-Presse Visitors look at Huan Huan, one of the two giant pandas which arrived in France last winter from China, on Aug 23, at Beauval zoo in Saint-Aignan, central France. Alain Jocard / Agence France-Presse Like many normal young couples starting a life together, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi have moved into a new home, happily go about their daily business, and hopes are high for a baby. But nothing else is normal about them. Their residence costs more than $1 million a year, 10,000 humans come to gawk at them every day, and bitter failure has met most of the chosen few who took the rocky road to parenthood before them. Not that any of that bothers Yuan Zi ("Chubby" in Chinese) or his female partner Huan Huan ("Happy"), or the hordes of tourists who are thrilled by the indolent exploits of the giant pandas in Beauval zoo in the French countryside. Yuan Zi, as if to show his indifference, took a break from munching bamboo in morning sunshine to turn his rear end toward a crowd of excited onlookers and, to cries of delight, produced a large, shining, green deposit. "They eat 35 kg of bamboo a day and defecate about 30 kg a day," said zoo director Rodolphe Delord, as he hosted yet another media crew reporting on the "pandamania" that erupted since they arrived in January. Visitors to Beauval, whose tree-lined alleys and collection of 4,500 animals helped make it onto Forbes Traveler magazine's list of the world's 15 most beautiful , last year welcomed 600,000 visitors, double the number from three years earlier. Attendance figures shot up by a further 50 percent in recent months, largely due to the cuddly black and white bears who are the star attraction in a new two-hectare Chinese section complete with pagodas and marble statues. There they are monitored round the clock by security guards and surveillance cameras, and during the day crowds swarm to see them snooze or eat the frozen apple, honey and ice treat they have been getting during a recent heatwave. A zookeeper comes to their enclosure every hour during the day and gives a presentation that explains that the panda is an endangered species with only about 1,600 remaining in the wild in China and some 300 others in captivity worldwide - mostly in China, but also in just 15 foreign zoos. Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, who have just reached maturity at the age of four, came from China's panda conservation center in Sichuan province and are in Beauval on a 10-year loan - for which the private zoo is paying China around $ 1 million annually. The pair are in France as another example of "" - China's bid to use soft power to boost its image and strengthen diplomatic ties with a country by loaning the popular bears. There is immense pressure on Beauval to get the pair back to China in good shape. "We're a little stressed because we're accountable to them," said zookeeper Astrid Bernasconi. Crush on cubs There is also great pressure to make sure that the couple produces offspring. The section of the zoo where they are kept has an optimistic sign declaring that it is the "Conservation and Breeding Center of Giant Pandas." But captive pandas are notorious for their reluctance to breed. A stark reminder of that came just last week with the demise in Berlin Zoo of , at 34 the oldest known male panda in the world. He died cubless despite having procured a series of females since his arrival in in 1980. Other examples of panda reproductive failure abound. A pair gifted to Britain in 1974 remained cubless to the end, while the last pair of pandas that lived in France were an embarrassing disaster in breeding terms. Chairman Mao Zedong gave the couple to French president Georges Pompidou but it soon emerged that they were in fact a pair of males, one of whom died after just a few months in France. Some of the more extreme methods used to get pandas to copulate have included showing them videos of other bears mating and even supplying the male with Viagra. Here in Beauval the zookeepers - including a pair from China who will stay throughout the bears' 10-year French sojourn - are taking a more scientific approach. They take frequent blood samples and carry out other tests to make sure they don't miss the mere 48 hours a year during which Huan Huan will be fertile. The bears live in adjacent but separate enclosures from which they can see but not touch each other, and as soon as it looks like the female is ready, zoo staff will open up the barriers to let them hook. "We mostly keep them apart because if they get too familiar with each other, then they tend to lose interest," said zoo director Delord, adding that if nature does not take its course then they will try artificial insemination. There is no guarantee that a cute little panda cub will result from the Beauval pair's first coupling, as was illustrated earlier this year when Britain's only pandas failed to mate during their brief window of opportunity. It was "close, but no cigar", Edinburgh Zoo said, after Yang Guang ("Sunshine") mounted female panda Tian Tian ("Sweetie") several times, without full mating taking place. Huan Huan and Yuan Zi meanwhile carry on with their daily 14 hours of feeding, blissfully unaware that here in Beauval they embody the claim in George Orwell's novel Animal Farm that all creatures are equal, but some are more equal than others. Agence France-Presse (China Daily 08/29/2012 page10)

128.Tokyo zoo mourns panda cub By ZHAO SHENGNAN 2012-07-12 08:02:17page11 China has expressed its regret over the death of a one-week-old panda at Tokyo zoo on Wednesday. The cub was the first panda born at the zoo in 24 years. He died of pneumonia. "We lament the loss of the cub and believe the Japanese people, who have been looking forward to seeing the cub will also lament this loss," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a daily news conference. The male cub, who was born on July 5 and had not been named, was found lying belly up and not breathing on his 7-year-old mother's chest on Wednesday morning, Tokyo's Ueno Zoo said. He was pronounced dead an hour later after resuscitation efforts failed. "It appears that when the baby was being breast-fed it may have inhaled some milk that caused pneumonia," Toshimitsu Doi, the head of the zoo told a hastily arranged news conference. Doi became emotional when speaking with reporters, choking up with tears and wiping his face with a handkerchief.

The panda's mother, Shin Shin, known as Xiannu in China, was leased from China to Japan in February 2011 with her partner, Ri Ri, a male panda known as Bili in China. The two pandas were put on public view soon after Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, giving the country some much needed good news. The 144-gram infant had been kept in an incubator for three days before being given back to Shin Shin on Tuesday. "They spent the night peacefully and the baby was doing fine just this morning," Yutaka Fukuda, the zoo's chief panda keeper, said as tears welled in his eyes. "It happened so suddenly, it's such a pity." The panda was the first to be born at the zoo since 1988 and was conceived naturally. Pandas have a low birth rate and artificial insemination is common in captive breeding programs. The much-anticipated cub had been celebrated across Japan, and its birth was closely followed in local media. On Wednesday the news of his death led the television news. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda described the death as "very disappointing". "We were all looking forward to the cub's development," Noda told reporters in Tokyo. The zoo said it would set up an area for visitors to lay flowers and pray for the cub. The young panda's short life was not, however, without controversy. On June 28 Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara suggested the yet-to-be-born panda should be given a name inspired by "Senkaku", the Japanese name for China's Diaoyu Islands, also claimed by Japan. Ishihara said he was not interested in Shin Shin's pregnancy, but suggested naming the baby Sen Sen or Kaku Kaku before sending it back to China. The comments prompted China to urge Ishihara to cease any activities that could harm bilateral ties between the two countries and the image of the Tokyo Prefecture. After the panda's birth last week Beijing expressed hope that "people-to-people sentiment and overall relations between China and Japan" could be promoted by the cub's birth. Pandas are regarded as envoys of friendship in China. Japan has previously celebrated the births of 16 giant pandas. AFP, AP and Reuters contributed to this story. Contact the writer at [email protected]

129.Pandas set to take a walk on the wild side By Jiang Xueqing and Huang Zhiling from Wolong and Dujiangyan 2012-06-08 Liu Xiaoqiang (left) and Wang Xiaojun get down to the ""bear essentials"" as they monitor pandas in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province last month. The trainers use disguise as they prepare pandas for life in the wild. Feng Yongbin / 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. Tao Tao, a male panda cub aged almost 2 years, lives with his mother, Cao Cao in this isolated place that boasts scenery reminiscent of the elf kingdom in Lord of the Rings, and has seen few human visitors in the last four years. Born in captivity on Aug 3, 2010, Tao Tao has been undergoing training in field survival techniques with the help of researchers from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda almost since the day of his birth. The plan is to send him into the wilds of Ya'an, Sichuan province, by the end of October.

Pandas are an endangered species. According to Huang Yan, deputy chief engineer of the center, captive-bred pandas number just 328 and there are only around 1,600 in the wild. The wild pandas are scattered across the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi. During the past 10 years, human activity, mainly in the form of roads and high-speed rail tracks, has cut into their habitat and divided the wild pandas into more than 30 small groups. "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." A short while after Tao Tao was born, the researchers placed the cub and his mother in a semi-wild area covering 2,400 sq m at a height of 1,820 meters above sea level. Unusually, Cao Cao was allowed full responsibility for the cub, a break from the usual practice employed at centers such as Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya'an, where keepers care for cubs and feed them formula milk. During the training process, the mother plays the lead role in teaching the cub basic survival skills, such as how to find water and climb trees. The researchers play a secondary role by placing the pandas in an environment similar to their natural wooded habitat, providing the mother with food when bamboo is scarce, and monitoring their behavior and activities. In addition to Tao Tao, three other panda cubs are receiving the same kind of training from their own mother. "We used to teach panda cubs based on our research and imagination. It took a lot of time and energy, but results were minimal," said Zhang Hemin, director of the center. "Now, we rely on panda mothers to do the training. They are much better teachers than humans, because they have an innate knowledge of what to do in the field." Unlike some other nature reserves where the cubs develop close relationships with their keepers, in Wolong the researchers are kept virtually invisible to the cubs to minimize the impact of humans on them. The keepers and veterinarians even wear fluffy black- and-white costumes when the cubs are given a physical examination. As a result, Tao Tao has learned to be constantly vigilant and if he hears the sound of footsteps on bamboo leaves, he immediately hides by climbing the nearest tree. On Feb 20 last year the researchers moved Tao Tao and his mother to a larger area, higher up the mountain. The area covers 40,000 sq m and is at an altitude of 2,000 to 2,100 meters above sea level. More than 10 wild pandas live on the outskirts of the training zone, which has plenty of umbrella bamboo, one of the most common varieties of the plant in Wolong. The environment is almost exactly the same as the pandas' natural habitat in the woods. To prevent Tao Tao and Cao Cao from leaving the training area, they are enclosed by a 2.5-meter-tall fence. The scientists installed 55 cameras, both along the fence and inside the training area, to monitor the pandas. They also use binoculars to conduct long-range observation. Pandas are solitary and sedentary by nature and most of the time Tao Tao rests in the trees, only returning to his mother when he is hungry. The cameras do not always work effectively and can barely detect the pandas when thick leaves cast their shadows across the fields, so researchers fitted Cao Cao with a GPS collar, enabling them to pinpoint her position and sphere of activity. The collar receives satellite signals that record the panda's longitude and altitude at any given moment and allows the researchers to download data from a distance of approximately 500 meters, although sometimes the thick foliage means that they have to approach as close as 100 meters. The scientists now plan to make a model leopard, cover its body with excrement and urine collected from the zoo and record leopard roars. Eventually, the model will be placed inside the living area and a researcher will hide in a camouflaged watchtower. When Tao Tao passes close to the model, the researcher will activate a remote control to make the fake leopard roar and then observe Tao Tao's reaction. Using this technique, they hope to scare the cub and teach him how to identify and avoid natural enemies. "As researchers, we are most worried about whether he can make it in the wild," said Zhang, the director of the center. Those concerns were especially acute at the beginning of the training period. Around 10 days after Tao Tao was born, Wolong was battered by a heavy two-day rainstorm. Everyone at the center was wracked with anxiety and a heated debate ensued as the researchers argued over whether to take the cub back to the center. In the end, Zhang decided to take a risk. "We have to clench our teeth to surmount this barrier," he said. "If we take him back now, we'll have to take him back next time a similar problem crops up. So we have to take a brave step. Even if he dies, he'll be making a sacrifice for the salvation of his own species." To the relief of all the researchers, Tao Tao came through the rainstorm unscathed. Concerns were again aroused during a heavy snowstorm in February 2011. Some parts of the training area, including the bamboo plantations, were buried in snow a meter deep. At the time, Tao Tao had just learned to walk and the researchers were afraid he would perish in the severe cold. However, their concerns were proved unfounded when they discovered that Cao Cao had trodden a path in the snow so that Tao Tao could follow in her footsteps. Later, the mother protected her offspring by driving a mask palm civet out of their living area. "Now we have learned the lessons and realize that panda cubs must be steeled through bad weather and tough environment. It's the only way they will learn to adapt to this habitat," said Zhang. After nearly two years of training, Tao Tao exhibits few differences to wild pandas in terms of food-base selection, searching out sources of water, orientation, evasion of enemies, and social communication, according to Zhang. On May 3, Tao Tao and his mother were moved to a 240,000-sq-m area higher up in the mountain. By the time the pandas left, the cub already weighed 36 kg. Now, until October, the training schedule will focus on identifying natural enemies and friendly animals. The researchers also plan to buy some wild boar and goats and introduce them into the training area. They will also transfer a small number of pandas to Wolong from Ya'an so that Tao Tao can develop social connections and understand his place within the panda community. "Our next step will be to form a standardized procedure for wilderness-survival training and establish a training plan with an annual target number," said Zhang. "That way we'll have a steady flow of pandas that fit the criteria to be released into small wild groups, integrate with the local community and breed. After years of hard work, we will finally achieve our goal of protecting the wild pandas, increasing their population and preserving their genetic diversity." Contact the reporter at [email protected] (China Daily 06/08/2012 page1/6) 130.'Panda taxis' a hit on London streets By LIU YANQIU in London and HUANGZHILING in Chengdu 2012-06-04page11 Millions of tourists flocking to London for the Olympic Games this summer can also learn more about China's giant pandas - not by visiting a zoo, but by taking a ride in one of London's iconic black taxies. Black-and-white stripes have been painted on 30 taxis to mimic the look of a panda, and another 20 feature a cartoon panda in its natural habitat surrounded by bamboo. Both designs feature the slogan ""Chengdu, hometown of pandas, spice it up"". Painting pandas on central London taxies is the latest campaign to raise awareness of the endangered Chinese animal. The campaign is jointly run by London Taxi Advertising and the Chengdu Association for Cultural Exchange with Foreign Countries in Chengdu, Sichuan province, which is home to more than 80 percent of the world's panda population. London Taxi Advertising sales director Paul Tremarco came up with the idea in March, after realizing the great amount of attention that such a campaign can bring, especially during London's Olympics. "Taxi Advertising is a great tool for getting a message across to a mass audience, and therefore increasing awareness of Chengdu as a tourist destination and encouraging visits to the city," he said. The taxies selected for the campaign will pick up passengers at London's most popular destinations, including Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Marble Arch and Trafalgar Square, from June 1 to Aug 31. A London Taxi Advertising crew spent four days painting the two designs on the taxies. Since London Taxi Advertising does not own the taxies, Chengdu paid for the advertising space, according to Zhong Ying, an official from Chengdu municipal government. Laura Hardy, a spokeswoman for London Taxi Advertising, said her crew has painted advertisements on London taxies for many clients in the travel sector, including Visit Malta, Sri Lanka Airlines and Arran Air. "Most of our previous adverts featured iconic tourism places. But to paint a panda on a taxi is an innovative idea," she said. Passengers who take the panda taxi rides can also enter a competition to win tickets to see Yang Guang and Tian Tian - two giant pandas that arrived at Edinburgh Zoo from Chengdu last December. Tian Tian and Yang Guang are the first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years. They have received hundreds of visitors every day since their arrival. The London Olympics is expected to attract an additional 5.3 million foreign tourists to the capital in July and August, according to organizers. Angie Sham, an Australian, wrote on Faceook that the panda taxi is very cute, and said she fell in love with it at first sight. The pudgy figure of the panda has been integrated into the taxi decor with the lights resembling the sparkling eyes of the animal. The images of the animal painted with the colors of the Olympic rings appear on the hood, roof and both sides of the cabs. The final design for the panda paintings was selected by people around the world through social networking platforms including Facebook, Twitter and micro blogs. The Chengdu Association for Cultural Exchange with Foreign Countries originally came up with six different designs, ranging from plain to rainbow-colored backgrounds. The top two designs were determined by a vote held on Facebook and Twitter. According to the Chengdu association, the panda cabs will run in London for three months. "Chengdu has held a number of panda-themed activities in recent years to promote itself and panda conservation," said Zhang Zhihe, chief of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. In 2006, three delegations consisting of members of the Chengdu Association for Cultural Exchange with Foreign Countries and panda experts in the city spent more than 40 days visiting zoos with pandas in America, Europe and Asia. During the "Earth Hour" initiative organized by the World Wildlife Fund in 2011, the giant panda "Meilan" served as the global ambassador and turned off a light to promote an energy-saving lifestyle, Zhang said. Contact the writer at [email protected] Li Yu in Chengdu contributed to this story.

131.Pandas show interest, but fail to mate at zoo By Zhang Chunyan in London ( China Daily)2012-04-06page10 Tian Tian, a female giant panda, eats bamboo in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland on Wednesday. Zookeepers had been hoping for a successful mating between Yang Guang, a male giant panda, and Tian Tian, but although the pair showed signs of chemistry and wrestled a lot, that was it. The panda breeding season for 2012 has ended, and the pandas are back on display. David Moir / Reuters Despite being set up on a romantic date by zookeepers, a pair of Chinese pandas at Edinburgh Zoo failed to mate, the zoo said on Thursday. "Tian Tian (meaning Sweetie) and Yang Guang (sunshine) will not have babies this year because they didn't mate," Edinburgh Zoo's press officer told China Daily. The panda breeding season for 2012 has ended, and both pandas are back on display, the press officer said. The latest attempt to mate followed other attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tian Tian and Yang Guang showed signs of chemistry and interest in each other, and wrestled a lot, but that was it. Zookeepers had hoped to put the two pandas together for one last attempt on Thursday morning, but the hormone levels of Tian Tian, the female panda, were too low, and limited breeding behavior was observed in both pandas. Female pandas ovulate just once a year and have only a 36-hour window in which they can get pregnant. Based on a combination of hormone-testing and behavioral observation over several weeks, experts decided that the time was right for the pair to properly meet for the first time on Tuesday. The zoo's "panda cams", which allow people to watch the animals online, were turned off so Tian Tian and Yang Guang could have their dates in private. "Each time the pair met we saw a huge amount of eagerness and attraction between Tian Tian and Yang Guang. There was lots of vocalization and encouragement from our female and physical contact between the two," Iain Valentine, director of research and conservation at the zoo, said in a press release. "He mounted her several times. However, full mating did not occur. Although both have bred before and have borne cubs with other pandas, they are both still relatively inexperienced," Valentine added. "We are hugely encouraged by how much the natural sparks flew between the two animals. As with humans, not all male and female pandas are attracted to each other. Both were keen to mate, but their inexperience showed," Valentine said. Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrived in Scotland from Ya’an reserve in Sichuan, China, in December last year. They have attracted a steady stream of visitors to the zoo. They are the first pandas to live in Britain for nearly two decades. Although the duo did not mate, the experience for the two pandas and Edinburgh Zoo has been immeasurable. “Overall,we remain very pleased with the outcome of the last few weeks, and it has been a fantastic trial run here at Edinburgh Zoo”, Valentine said. “Asanimal conservationists and scientists, we have learned a huge amount in such a short time about this captivating species and we look forward to the next 10 years.”

132. A tale of two bases for pandas By Liu Xiangrui and Huang Zhiling ( China Daily) 2012-02-25 page4 Pandas eat bamboo at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda's Bifengxia Base in Ya'an, Sichuan province, on Tuesday. Jiang Dong / China Daily YA'AN, Sichuan - Tan Chengbin has just entered into what are likely to be his busiest days at work during the entire year. Even with seven years of experience as a panda keeper, he is as nervous as he is happy about the approach of the annual mating season for giant pandas. "Panda matings and births are big things for me," said Tan, who works at the Bifengxia Base under the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Ya'an, Sichuan province. "I have to get everything prepared in advance." After a deadly earthquake hit Sichuan in 2008, more than 50 artificially bred panda cubs have been born at the center. The Bifengxia Base, which has become the biggest breeding center for pandas in the world, plays an essential role in efforts to conserve the rare species. "It became an emergency shelter for the pandas after Wolong Base (another conservation center) was ruined in the quake," said Huang Yan, vice-chief engineer of the center. The devastating earthquake cut off the power supply, communications and traffic to the Wolong Base. Afterward, two pandas were missing, and one of them was later found dead. The center moved its personnel and pandas out of the center, and later transferred more than 50 pandas to the Bifengxia Base. Tan was one of the keepers who left with the pandas from Wolong. He still clearly remembers the earthquake. "I had no idea what was happening," said Tan, who was then on duty at the Wolong Base. "I saw rocks rolling down from the mountains and a bunch of dust." After fleeing to open ground, he calmed down and then ran to check on a panda named Qingqing, which was then only 1.5 years old. A wooden house where Qingqing had been kept was destroyed and half buried by rocks. Its door was blocked. Tan used a rock to break into it. "She (Qingqing) was very nervous," Tan recalled. "She climbed up to the roof through an iron fence. I had difficulty getting her because she kept moving and scratching, and there were aftershocks." With the help of his colleagues outside, Tan rescued Qingqing. Despite the safe escape, the panda, which now lives in the Bifengxia Base, still "gets nervous easily, and will climb up high when there is a noise", Tan said. The huge 2008 earthquake has had noticeable effects on Qingqing and other panda survivors. Some have displayed behavioral disorders or a lack of appetite or are easily frightened. "However, most of them recovered some time after the disaster," Tan said. "We have used all kinds of methods to help the traumatized pandas recover." Tan said he and other keepers would stay for long hours with the pandas, feed them by hand and talk to them to develop a bond of trust. "They are really smart," said Tan. "It's really like we are friends." Since the Bifengxia and Wolong bases differ greatly in altitude and climate, caretakers there have to help the pandas adapt to different environments. The Bifengxia base was built in the 1990s and it was designed to maintain only 18 giant pandas when it was put into use in 2003. The government then spent 10 million yuan ($1.59 million) to improve it. Within the three months following the quake, about 18 temporary staff shelters and more than 20 breeding enclosures were built. The base now has more than 80 pandas, including six pandas that returned from overseas. Tan will monitor the pandas closely and pay attention to any changes they show in their shapes, weights, appetites and behaviors. He will also prepare food for them and clean and check their shelters. In the latter half of the year, the moved pandas will return to their home in Wolong, where a new base has been built. "This year will mark the homecoming of the giant pandas," said Huang. Besides taking the giant pandas back to Wolong, the center will let an artificially bred panda go free in the wild in October - the first time that has been done. "Helping them return to the wild will be our ultimate goal, because the wild is pandas' real home," he said. The center began holding training programs in 2010. Those usually last two years, starting from when cubs are born. In the future, the center will give its three chief bases different roles in protecting the giant pandas, Huang said. The new Wolong base will concentrate on artificial breeding, while the Bifengxia Base will be devoted to science education and rescuing injured and old wild pandas. The base in Dujiangyan, meanwhile, will conduct research into the control and prevention of diseases. China Daily

133. 'River pigs' rarer than pandas By Liu Xiangrui (China Daily) 2012-01-30 07:57 " Researchers from the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, check the health of a rare finless porpoise that was shipped from Poyang Lake on May 25. A severe drought last year posed a serious threat to the ' survival. Provided to China Daily A poster urging villagers to cease electrofishing and protect the finless porpoises attracts the attention of Zhao Yihui and his nephew in Dongting village, Hunan province, on Saturday. Xu Yaping / for China Daily Fishermen, scientists and green campaigners have joined forces to prevent the rare Yangtze finless porpoise from disappearing from Dongting Lake in Central China YUEYANG, Hunan - He Daming may only have received eight months of education as a child, but he is smart enough to realize that the fate of the fishermen in his village is closely tied to that of the rare finless porpoise. The 43-year-old, who has been fishing Dongting Lake in Hunan province since he was 11, recently handed out 2,000 copies of a letter he wrote urging fellow villagers to protect the endangered mammals. ""We used to regard them as river gods; we'd never hunt or hurt them,"" he said, explaining that they are seen as ""guides"" because they are usually spotted in areas where are in abundance. ""We all depend on fish to survive,"" he said. ""If the lake environment worsens and there are fewer fish, the porpoises die and we won't be able to make a living."" Since April, He and another 10 friends have been patrolling the lake, hoping to protect the animal from illegal fishing techniques, such as electrofishing. ""These destructive methods kill all the life, including small fish, which are the main food source for finless porpoises. Sometimes the porpoises are injured or killed, too,"" said He, who has already persuaded several fishermen to be more eco-friendly. Yet, fishermen alone cannot solve the problem. Studies show that the porpoises, which are found only in the Yangtze River and Poyang and Dongting lakes, have also been affected by pollution, busy water traffic, extreme weather conditions (mainly droughts) and the construction of hydropower projects. A three-year field survey recently completed by the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the international wildlife NGO, found about 1,000 finless porpoises, down from an estimated 1,800 in 2006. The findings suggest the population is reducing by 6.4 percent every year, although the rate is much higher in Dongting Lake, where only about 120 now remain. Although the animals have a history dating back more than 25 million years, Wang Ding, former deputy director of the institute, predicted that the species could be extinct in a decade if measures are not taken to protect them. Protection bid The finless porpoise, or the ""river pig"" as it is more commonly known, is popular for its friendly nature and smiling face. However, their number is now fewer than the giant panda, which is regarded as among the planet's most endangered animals. ""They are the pandas of the water, and they deserve the same urgent protection,"" said Xu Yaping, a journalist from Hunan's Yueyang city who is campaigning to ensure the survival of the species. ""We should be grateful we still have 10 years, but it's going to be too late if we don't start right now."" The 46-year-old has been a fan of the finless porpoise since the 1980s, when he worked as a waiter at a hotel beside Dongting Lake. ""I checked books and learned it was the only freshwater finless porpoise on Earth and a national-level protected animal,"" he said. ""After that, I begged fishermen not to hurt them every morning when I bought fish for the hotel."" On Jan 8, Xu set up the Yangtze Finless Porpoise Conservation Society, mainly to ease the problem at Dongting Lake. He has solicited help from scientists, fellow journalists and teachers. Xu also takes part in He Deming's patrols but said many fishermen ignore warnings about illegal techniques because traditional methods result in smaller hauls. ""All we can do is try to make them understand that unsustainable methods will hurt them in the long run,"" he said. The society, which now has about 50 members, has been promoting their ideas to local authorities and relevant government departments. They have also organized lectures and seminars, and rescued injured porpoises. Plans are under way to set up an observation station on Dongting Lake for volunteers. ""We are looking into the possibility of turning Nanhu Lake, which is fed from Dongting Lake, into an artificial breeding center for the species,"" said Xie Yongjun, an associate professor of animal husbandry at Yueyang Vocational and Technical College, who is a member of the society. Another goal is to raise the conservation level for finless porpoises and establish a special conservation zone in Dongting Lake. Grade 1 protection is the highest level, yet the finless porpoise is currently only Grade 2. Upgrading the porpoise to the top level, however, has met with opposition from some industries, as it means protecting the porpoises would have priority over economic activities along the river, such as transport development. ""The job can't be done by our organization alone. We need help from the government and the public,"" Xu said, who added that he has already spent more than 50,000 yuan ($7,800) on the society, and plans to sell one of his two apartments to free up further funds. As well as the finless porpoise, the Yangtze River also used to be home to another freshwater : the baiji, or Chinese river dolphin. The animal was declared extinct in 2006. ""We've already lost the baiji,"" Xu said. ""We can't fail the finless porpoises, too."" Feng Zhiwei in Changsha contributed to this story. China Daily (China Daily 01/30/2012 page7)

134. Pandas depart for Paris research project By Huang Zhiling (China Daily) 2012-01-16 08:01 CHENGDU - A pair of pandas from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding left the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province on Sunday morning and was expected to arrive in Paris after flying nearly 11 hours. and Huan Huan will stay in ZooParc de Beauval in France to take part in a conservation and research program for a decade under a loan agreement reached between China and France. They are the first panda pair sent to France since 1973,"" said Zhang Zhihe, chief of the Chengdu base. In 1973, China sent Li Li and Yan Yan to a zoo in Paris. Li Li died one year after arriving, and Yan Yan lived alone in France for 27 years before dying of old age. The arrival of Huan Huan and Yuan Zai is a historic event for ZooParc de Beauval, marking the accomplishment of a great collaboration with China,"" said Francoise Delord, founder and president of ZooParc de Beauval. We have been looking forward to this moment for five years. The zoo has prepared for this epic journey for a long time,"" he added. Since 2005, workers from the French zoo have visited the Chengdu base many times, and in late 2007, experts from the Chengdu base visited the zoo to investigate whether it had the experts and proper facilities. The exchange of visits convinced the Chinese side that the French zoo was fully prepared for the arrival of the duo. The dedicated team has worked tirelessly to create a world-class enclosure to house the newest additions to the zoo, which will offer visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view these extraordinary animals,"" Delord said. The zoo has collected more than 20 kinds of bamboo from Europe and will provide the pair whatever they favor,"" Delord said. Officials from China's State Forestry Administration, the French Consulate General in Chengdu, the Chengdu base and the French zoo attended a farewell ceremony held for the pair in the base on Saturday afternoon. They were amused with the video showing the moment when the two pandas were born in 2008. Yuan Zai, male, likes climbing trees, playing with balls and catching butterflies while Huan Huan, female, is gentle and likes sitting quietly and feasting on her favorite food all day. At 3 am on Sunday, the pair was loaded on a vehicle bound for the Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, and they left for France five hours later on a Boeing plane owned by Federal Express. Known as the ""FedEx Panda Express,"" the plane was specially decorated with a panda motif. The Chengdu base prepared bamboo shoots, apples and buns to keep the pandas fed during their flight. One keeper and one vet from the Chengdu base and an employee from the French zoo accompanied them. And the two workers from Chengdu will stay in the French zoo for two years, Zhang said. The two pandas will be present on Jan 27 when France celebrates the 48th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. But they will not meet the public until after one month of quarantine and adaptation to the new environment, he said. In addition to Yuan Zai and Huan Huan, another 36 Chinese pandas are now staying overseas, Zhang added. China Daily (China Daily 01/16/2012 page3)

135. Valley leads pandas to the wild By Huang Zhiling (China Daily) 2012-01-12 08:01 Yao Ming and his wife, Ye Li, visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on Wednesday to mark the launch of its program for a large-scale release of captive pandas into the wild. Shi Yi / for China Daily Chengdu base planning to prepare over 100 pandas for survival in hills CHENGDU - Yao Ming was relaxed while visiting the nursery in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in this capital of Sichuan province, on Wednesday afternoon. Holding one small panda after another, he kept smiling and saying: ""They are so cute."" The former NBA star visited the Chengdu base after participating in the opening ceremony for Panda Valley in Dujiangyan, a city under the administration of Chengdu, in the morning. The valley, a controlled wilderness designed to train pandas before sending them into the wild, was formally opened to six pandas on Wednesday in Yutang, a town in Dujiangyan. Yutang was where the first wild panda was found after the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. In January 1953, the panda was found in the town and sent to an animal farm at the Chengdu Zoo on Futou Hill in northern Chengdu, the site of the present-day Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. This marked the beginning of panda conservation in China. Covering nearly 134 hectares, the valley, created with a total investment of 300 million yuan ($48 million), can prepare 30 to 40 pandas for life in the wild. Thirty to 40 pandas will follow the first six before the program is gradually extended to all the pandas in the Chengdu base, which plans to increase the number of pandas to 120 to 150 in 10 years, according to Zhang Zhihe, chief of the research base. The first six pandas were relocated on Wednesday morning from Zhang's base to the valley, about 50 km from Chengdu. The two males and four females born between 2007 and 2009 are still immature. They grow rapidly, are bold and have strong ability to adapt to the environment. The Chengdu base has spent nearly a year choosing them from its 108 pandas based on their pedigree, health, genetic background and gender ratio. ""They will spend increasingly less time with humans, including their breeders, before their release and will feed on bamboo instead of dietary supplements. They will live in the valley without many buildings and where bamboo is distributed in different parts so that they must move around to look for food and enhance their physical strength,"" said Huang Xiangming, head of the animal management department of the base. ""We have spent five decades saving pandas from extinction and have lived with them peacefully. We will spend another five decades or more time sending them to the wild, rather than keeping them in captivity,"" Zhang said. In the 1970s and 1980s, 108 pandas perished in China as a result of the blossoming of bamboo, which affects the bamboo leaves that the pandas depend on. Zhang's base was set up in 1987 to house six sick and hungry pandas rescued from the wild. Thanks to the joint efforts of several generations of researchers, the base has solved the main difficulties in panda breeding, and it has 108 captive pandas, boasting the biggest captive panda population in the world, Zhang said. ""It was difficult for pandas to be ruttish. It was difficult for them to be pregnant, and it was difficult for their cubs to survive. These were the three difficulties in panda breeding,"" he said. Coupled with the population growth is the risk of cross-infection of contagious diseases as the pandas are densely populated in his base. In addition, urbanization has an adverse effect on its surrounding environment. To find an alternative, the base decided to build the valley in 2006 with the support of the central government. In May 2010, the groundbreaking ceremony was held and its first phase was completed last month. China Daily (China Daily 01/12/2012 page4)

136.Pandas packing bags for trip away from home By Huang Zhiling (China Daily) 2012-01-11 08:06 French zoo has all the amenities to host guests CHENGDU - A pair of pandas from Southwest China may need to polish up their parlez-vous before boarding a plane on Sunday for France. The pair, Yuan Zai and Huan Huan, have booked a 10-year stay in ZooParc de Beauval. A grand send-off ceremony will be held on Saturday,"" said Zhang Zhihe, chief of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Both the male panda Yuan Zai (Round Boy) and female Huan Huan (Happy One) were born in 2008. To prepare for their French trip, they are under quarantine at the Chengdu base. They are eating normally and are in good health,"" said Huang Xiangming, head of the animal management department at the Chengdu base. As the duo will leave Chengdu, many panda fans in Sichuan are sending best wishes for their life in France,"" said Tan Hongming, deputy chief of the base. Since 2005, workers at the French zoo have visited the panda base many times, and in late 2007 experts from Chengdu visited the zoo to investigate whether it had the experts and proper facilities for the pandas. The French zoo is fully prepared for the arrival of the duo. It has built a luxury residence combining Chinese pavilions and a French courtyard,"" Zhang said. The French zoo has purchased many building materials from China. It has also placed Chinese stone to decorate the panda residence. The two pandas will be present on Jan 27 when France celebrates the 48th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. In 1973, China sent two pandas to France for the first time. One of them, Yan Yan lived alone in France for 27 years before it died of old age, becoming one of the longest-living Chinese pandas in Europe. China Daily (China Daily 01/11/2012 page5)

137. Cooperative research helps pandas and Chinese science By Jiang Xueqing (China Daily) 2012-01-09 07:58 " Pandas don't live on bamboo alone. Zhang Le feeds carrots to 1-year-olds at Bifengxia panda base in Sichuan. Luo Bo / for China Daily Two 4-month-old panda cubs have fun in their nursery in Bifengxia center in Ya'an, Sichuan province. Luo Bo / for China Daily YA'AN, Sichuan - Among all the fields of international research on giant pandas, breeding is the most prominent, experts said. Since cooperative research started in 1994, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding has helped produce 13 cubs in Japan (11 survived), three in the United States and twins in Spain. The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province contributed to the breeding of six cubs in the US, two in Austria and one in Thailand. Any baby born to pandas on loan from China belongs to China, and the offspring are sent back at about age 4 to become part of the breeding population. So far, 11 of the pandas born overseas have returned. In the process, the cooperative ventures have helped China raise its own level of animal breeding, feeding and research. In 2006, Zoo Atlanta invited Hou Rong, director of a research center at Chengdu's research base, to the US in spring to help a pair of pandas breed via artificial insemination. The zoo had tried three times, unsuccessfully, to collect semen from Yang Yang. A panda keeper later found that Yang Yang had a retrograde ejaculation problem. His semen was redirected to the urinary bladder rather than being ejaculated via the urethra. Hou suggested that semen be collected by electro-ejaculation combined with rectal massage. A different procedure was suggested by another expert the zoo had invited - Richard Fayrer-Hosken, an animal reproductive medicine specialist with the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine. He insisted on first using a pipe to extract semen from the panda's urinary bladder and then washing urine off the sample. After rounds of discussion, both experts succeeded in collecting sperm from Yang Yang in their own ways. But the quality of Hou's sample was considered better because the sperm had not been stained by urine. The zoo used the fresh sperm sample collected by Hou to inseminate , who gave birth to on Sept 6, 2006. Mei Lan, whose name means ""Atlanta's Beauty"", returned to China in February 2010 and was appointed the global ambassador for Earth Hour, an event led by the WWF to fight climate change. Hou used the same method in 2007 to help the Memphis Zoo in the US. The zoo had tried to collect sperm from a panda named Le Le five times but to no avail. When Hou succeeded, all staff workers on the scene burst into cheers and applause. ""After I was done,"" she said, ""an American panda keeper followed me back to the laboratory. At that time, he didn't know I speak English and bowed to me deeply. I was so impressed."" Collecting sperm is not the only critical process. So is timing. The female's estrus period comes just once a year, and she is receptive for only a few days. Therefore, it is crucial to seize the right moment and frequency of pairing, said Huang Zhi, animal management director of China Conservation and Research. When mating succeeds, the job still may not be done. The center also has sent experienced staff members abroad to help female pandas raise their cubs. Some of the mothers do not do well because they have health problems, are inexperienced or can handle only one cub at a time (twins are not rare). Chinese experts have taught their foreign colleagues how to bottle-feed and monitor cubs and how to feed the mother panda after delivery. Zoo Atlanta had received Yang Yang and his mate, Lun Lun, from the Chengdu base in 1999. That is also when the facilities began cooperating to study animal behavior, something no employee of any Chinese zoo had heard of before. Many scientists and technicians at the Chengdu Zoo even questioned whether such research deserved their time and effort. They later found its value. Statistics in the 1990s showed that among more than 100 pandas raised over the years in a simulated wild environment, only seven males had been able to mate naturally. If a female panda at Chengdu Zoo entered estrus, the zoo would borrow a male from immediately and put them together. Contrary to their keepers' expectations of a happy couple, the two would fight ferociously. Nobody could explain why. Through behavior studies, researchers learned that pandas need sufficient information about each other before mating. In the wild, they leave scent marks with urine and glands on their buttocks. With these marks, a male can tell a female his personal information and find the right partner. Based on this research, panda keepers now put the male and female in adjacent enclosures before her estrus cycle to let them get to know each other. Staff members stop washing out the enclosures, preserving the scent marks left by the pandas. Now, Hou said, 60 percent of adult male pandas worldwide have natural mating experiences. (The remaining 40 percent are used as sperm donors.) About half of pandas mate naturally every year, up from 10 percent in the 1990s. The annual breeding success rate also has doubled, reaching nearly 60 percent on average. ""China's ability to research giant pandas has substantially improved compared to 20 years ago,"" Hou said. ""Like other Third World countries, our level of medical care, animal protection and scientific research used to remain low, but we have learned a lot through international cooperation all these years. ""Today, our country has reached the international level in terms of animal exhibition, research, feeding and management. We absorbed the advanced technologies of other countries, applied them into our animal breeding practice and made our own renovations."" Based on her cooperation with the University of Liverpool and the National Cancer Institute in the US, Hou and her colleagues built their own research team, developed new technology to standardize paternity testing for giant pandas, and applied for a national patent in 2010. Tracking family lines is critical to maintaining genetic diversity in the endangered panda species. China Daily (China Daily 01/09/2012 page6)

138. Pandas may find traveling hard to bear By Jiang Xueqing (China Daily) 2012-01-09 07:56 Zhang Yahui, an assistant at the Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya'an, Sichuan province, checks the weight of a 4-month-old panda. Luo Bo / for China Daily Yang Guang draws attention as he explores his new enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo at a preview on Dec 12. The Scottish public got its first look four days later. David Moir / Reuters Visitors pose for photos in front of female giant panda Xian Nu, who is called Shin Shin in Japan, as she munches bamboo at Ueno Zoological Park in Tokyo. Her appearance on April 1 with male Bi Li, now called Ri Ri, was the first panda viewing in Japan in three years. The 5-year-olds had arrived from China's Sichuan province in February. Issei Kato / Reuters Staff workers at Bifengxia prepare Tian Tian for her trip to Edinburgh. She and Yang Guang are on loan to Scotland for 10 years. Heng Yi / for China Daily Hua Zuiba begins a 30-hour journey to Spain in 2007. It took her several months to relax in her new home. Xie Hui / for China Daily Greater global role has its burdens for our ambassadors of goodwill, Jiang Xueqing reports from Ya'an and Chengdu, Sichuan province. China's giant pandas are on the move again. Yuan Zai and Huan Huan will leave on Sunday for Beauval Zoo in central France, according to the Chengdu panda research base. This follows the arrival of another panda pair in Scotland on Dec 4. Yuan Zai is male and Huan Huan female, and both were born at Chengdu. Further details were not available but will be announced at a news conference on Tuesday. Giant pandas have been goodwill ambassadors for China for more than 1,000 years. They still serve that role, but animal conservation and scientific research, both nationally and internationally, play a bigger part. Although their mission is significant actually getting pandas to a foreign destination has never been easy. Wu Zetian, the first empress in China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), is said to have given a pair of pandas and 70 sheets of panda skin to Emperor Temmu of Japan in October 685. The first person to take a living panda out of China was Ruth Harkness, an American fashion designer. She captured a 6-week-old cub during her exploration of a mountainous region in Wenchuan county, Sichuan province, in 1936. She named the cub Su Lin, which means ""a little bit of something cute"", after the sister-in-law of her expedition partner, Quentin Young. With the help of friends, Harkness bribed customs officers to record her as ""taking along a barking dog"". Su Lin was carried onto the ocean liner President McKinley in a bamboo basket and then outside China. Later, the cub was sent to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago and attracted as many as 40,000 visitors a day. Sixteen pandas were taken out of China - some illegally - from 1936 to 1946, according to the Chengdu Research Base. At least 70 dead, stuffed pandas are stored in museums of other countries. Since 1994, the Chengdu base and China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan have sent at least 26 pandas to the United States, Australia, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Spain, Austria and the United Kingdom for cooperative research on panda conservation, breeding and veterinary medicine. The pandas at the Edinburgh Zoo are female Tian Tian (Sweetie) and male Yang Guang (Sunlight), both born in August 2003. They left the Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya'an, Sichuan province, and spent a couple of weeks settling into their new home before public viewing opened on Dec 16. They will be on loan to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland for 10 years, and it is hoped they will produce cubs during their stay. The projects make the Edinburgh Zoo the eighth zoo in the Western Hemisphere to have giant pandas, and Beauval will be the ninth. To help the pandas adapt to their new environment more swiftly and smoothly, Chinese experts escort them to their new countries and teach local keepers and veterinarians how to raise captive pandas in a simulated wild environment. It wasn't an easy transition for , who left Bifengxia for Adelaide Zoo in South Australia in November 1999. They had just developed extra fur for a Ya'an winter, when the average temperature is 5 degrees Celsius. In Adelaide, however, it was summer and 35 C on average. The pandas' thick coats prevented them from cooling easily. During their first month, the pandas stayed all day inside, where the temperature was controlled at 18-20 C. The next month, keepers opened the enclosure door for a half- hour each day to encourage the pandas to go outside and get familiar with the new environment. In a week, Wang Wang caught cold. He had a runny nose, lost his appetite and ran a fever as high as 38.9 C (normal is 37). Veterinarians diagnosed him with mild pneumonia and gave him medication. He recovered two days later. Adelaide is Australia's driest state capital, with an annual average rainfall of just 549 mm, compared with more than 1,800 mm for Ya'an. It has only a couple of types of bamboo, which Wang Wang and Funi do not quite enjoy. To meet their dietary requirements, Adelaide Zoo began to fly in bamboo every week from Queensland in northeast Australia, according to Luo Bo, who took the pandas from Ya'an to Adelaide. The zoo also has a 14-hectare browse plantation at Bolivar, a northern suburb of Adelaide. All of the zoos that receive pandas from China have found bamboo supplies in their own or nearby countries. At the US' National Zoo in Washington, each panda is fed about 23 kg of bamboo a day. Most of what they eat is grown on a farm in southern Maryland in the US. ""These countries do not import bamboo from China mainly because long-distance transportation expenses remain high,"" said Luo, who is deputy director of panda husbandry at China Conservation and Research. ""Besides, it is hard to preserve fresh bamboo during the trip. Not to mention that it usually takes one or two months for living plants like bamboo to go through the quarantine procedure before they are allowed for exportation."" The Edinburgh Zoo expects Tian Tian and Yang Guang to consume nearly 18,000 kg of bamboo every year, or about 20 three-meter stems each day. Initially, German grower Reiner Winkendick is providing 85 percent of the animals' requirement with bamboo he produces at a nursery on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The rest is grown at special sites around the zoo. After three years, the zoo will increase its homegrown supply. Among all factors that would stress the pandas, long-distance travel is the most significant, said Li Mingxi, an expert at the Chengdu base. In September 2007, Li and a colleague escorted pandas Bing Xing and Hua Zuiba to Madrid Zoo in Spain. They took off in Chengdu on a TNT cargo aircraft for a transfer in Shanghai. Because they had already cleared customs in Chengdu, they could not leave the Shanghai airport. The Chinese experts put the caged pandas in a relatively quiet corner of the freight yard, but the loud noises of cargo loading and planes taking off and landing disturbed the animals. Bing Xing and Hua Zuiba became nervous and restless, pacing their cages for half the night. Li and his colleague were prepared, with 200 kg of fresh bamboo shoots. The food comforted the pandas, and they fell asleep around 4 am. They took off for Madrid a few hours later. After more than 30 hours of travel, the pair finally arrived at the zoo. The passageways were too narrow, so a crane was used to lift them into their outdoor activity fields. From there, the pandas moved to the indoor enclosures. Hua Zuiba remained nervous for several months. She clasped her limbs tightly even when she was eating, rather than spreading out her arms and legs comfortably. ""Transportation - especially transfer - has a huge impact on pandas,"" Li said. ""If we take a direct flight, it will be much less stressful. The more twists and turns they experience, the louder noises they suffer, the bigger the impact. ""In an ideal world, pandas should be closed from the public upon their arrival in another country and not receive any form of visit, reception or interview. After several days of rest, they will adapt to the new environment very quickly,"" he said. The cages for panda transportation are specially designed and, usually, are made by panda experts. In the case of Bing Xing and Hua Zuiba, the pair bound for Madrid, the Chinese experts sealed three sides of the cage with steel plates to prevent people from having contact with the animals and provided many holes on the side plates for ventilation. For Wang Wang and Funi's trip to Australia, the cage made in China was 1.66 meters long, 1.2 meters high and 1 meter wide. Its main frame was steel, while its baseboard was plastic for warmth. The light inside the cage was kept low to quiet the pandas. People could not touch the pandas from the outside, nor could the pandas reach out to injure people. Animal keepers and veterinarians could watch the animals at any time from an observation hole that was convenient to open and close. A tray was installed at the bottom of the cage to collect urine, which was soaked up by absorbent material. Sometimes, containers provided by well-known shipping companies are used for panda transportation. Tian Tian and Yang Guang traveled in two custom-built containers provided by FedEx Express, which flew the pandas nonstop from Chengdu to Edinburgh on a chartered Boeing 777F, a flight called the FedEx Panda Express. Such containers will also be used to send the pandas to France, Li said. Write the reporter at [email protected] (China Daily 01/09/2012 page1)

139.Panda shows carnivorous side By Huang Zhiling (China Daily) 2011-12-31 07:58 A wild panda captured by an infrared camera eating a dead in a forest in Pingwu, Sichuan province, on Nov 9. Provided to China Daily CHENGDU - To most people, the words ""giant panda"" conjure up thoughts of a gentle and slow vegetarian living in captivity. But digital photos taken on an infrared camera in Sichuan province, home to more than 80 percent of the pandas in the world, are making many question the accuracy of such notions. Recently monitoring the panda habitat at the Laohegou State Forest in Sichuan's Pingwu county, near the Baishuijiang Panda Nature Reserve in neighboring Gansu province, researchers came across a strange find. It was a dead adult wildebeest that had been trapped between rocks in a ravine in late October. ""The wildebeest must have got stuck when it was running and then died,"" said Chen Youping, chief of the Pingwu-based State-level panda reserve. The researchers also noted signs that another animal had been eating wildebeest's leg. ""To learn what kind of animals would be feasting on the wildebeest, researchers installed an infrared camera near it on Oct 28,"" Chen said. The camera was retrieved on Dec 8. To the researchers' surprise, its roughly 600 photographs showed that the wildebeest was being eaten by a giant panda. The ravine where the wildebeest was found is nearly 2,000 meters above sea level and is covered with snow and ice, which prevented the wildebeest from decaying. The first photo of the panda was taken around 11 pm on Nov 9. It began eating the wildebeest around midnight, after becoming accustomed to the artificial lighting the researchers had set up. ""The panda, whose sex is unknown, was a great eater with a mouth full of meat,"" said Shao Liangkun, who is the chief of the general office of the Wanglang Nature Reserve and who installed the camera near the wildebeest. ""Because the camera's memory was full at 5 am on Nov 10, we don't know what happened afterward."" Researchers in Pingwu, which is home to 230 of the 1,597 wild pandas in existence, began installing infrared cameras to monitor the panda five years ago. Since then, they have installed more than 100 there, Chen said. About a month after installing a camera, reserve employees would retrieve it to change its batteries and memory card. ""An infrared camera starts taking photos only if it senses heat,"" Chen said. ""This carnivorous panda used up all the camera's memory card within a single night."" Infrared cameras in Pingwu have captured pandas exhibiting various behaviors - rutting and attacking sheep. ""But this is the first time an infrared camera in the county has shown a panda eating meat,"" Chen said. Chen, who has found animal bones in pandas' droppings before, said he feels lucky to have seen the photos. He said he wishes workers had tried to ascertain how much meat the panda had eaten and to analyze its droppings. ""Droppings would help researchers understand the digestion of pandas, which usually eat bamboo,"" he said. He said researchers from the reserve will visit the ravine next week and conduct an investigation. Pandas were meat-eating animals several million years ago. As a result of changes in the environment, they changed their dietary habits and began mainly to eat bamboo, Chen said. China Daily (China Daily 12/31/2011 page4)

140.Sweet! Panda is a woman of the year (China Daily) 2011-12-31 07:57 " Tian Tian the panda enjoys the unexpected honor of being named one of the ""faces of the year"" by the BBC. LONDON - It was intended as a light-hearted addition to an otherwise serious list of women who made the headlines in 2011. But the BBC's inclusion of a panda in its ""faces of the year"" has kicked up a storm. In a media row dubbed Pandagate by users of Twitter, the broadcaster has included Tian Tian (Sweetie), one of two pandas who arrived at a Scottish zoo earlier this month, as its female face for December in an online feature. The hairy giant is named alongside women such as US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived being shot in the head during a meeting with voters, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Kate Middleton's sister Pippa. Opposition Labour lawmaker Stella Creasy was among those who criticized the BBC's decision, saying that despite its light-hearted tone, the list caused concern because it appeared to be part of a trend. Last month, the BBC came under fire for failing to include any women in the 10-strong shortlist for its prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award. ""These lists aren't meant to be serious but coming so soon after the lack of women from their Sports Personality of the Year award it does seem as if the BBC hasn't noticed the wide and varied contribution women make to public life,"" Creasy said in a statement. ""Whilst we all love a good panda story, in a year when Christine Lagarde became head of the IMF, or Helle Thorning-Schmidt became prime minister of Denmark or even the sad death of Amy Winehouse, it's frustrating the BBC couldn't think of 12 human female faces who have made the news this year."" The BBC said this was not the first time an animal had made the list. ""Including Sweetie as one of the annual headline makers was a light-hearted addition to the list,"" a spokeswoman said. In 2009, Benson the Carp was August's entry on the male list and last year Peppa the Pig, a popular cartoon character, was on the female list for April. Hugh Roberts, chief executive of Edinburgh Zoo, told China Daily that Tian Tian and Yang Guang are doing well indeed. ""They eat well, sleep well, enjoy bamboo every day and enjoy seeing visitors,"" Roberts said. About 2,000 visitors come to Edinburgh Zoo to watch the pair every day, but the daylight is quite short at the moment, Roberts added. When it comes to the news that BBC selected Tian Tian as one of its women ""faces of the year 2011"", Roberts said it's very wonderful. The selection, on the BBC's online magazine, has provoked controversy. Unlike the women's page, all individuals of the men's page were people. Yang Guang, the male panda brought to Edinburgh with Tian Tian, was not included. Some people also said Tian Tian may be cute, but she is not so influential. ""Different people have different opinions,"" Roberts said, adding that some people take the selection very seriously and they think it's not good, while others don't like hard news stories. Tang Chunxiang, vice-director of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda and one of the Chinese experts staying at the zoo, said the BBC's selection of Tian Tian is good. ""British people love pandas,"" Tang said. AFP - China Daily (China Daily 12/31/2011 page1)

141. Pandas to take a walk on the wild side By Cang Wei (China Daily) 2011-12-22 08:38 " Xing Ya playfully jumps on Xing Rong to vie for a piece of apple at the Chengdu Panda Research Base in Sichuan province on Wednesday. The twin sisters will be among the first group to be freed under a program releasing them back to the wild. She Yi / for China Daily BEIJING - In the movie Kung Fu Panda, once-clumsy and lazy Panda Po overcomes many challenges to become a master. Now Po's real-life prototype, Gong Zai, will also embark on an adventure for a less lofty but more essential goal - to survive. Three-year-old Gong Zai is among a group of pandas to be returned to the wilderness by the Chengdu Panda Research Base in Sichuan province. The program attempts to return pandas to their natural habitat. Six pandas from 108 raised in the base will be released into a controlled wilderness, known as Chengdu Panda Valley, on Jan 11. There they will receive training for the wild before being released to fend for themselves in the wilderness, according to the Chengdu base. The group includes four females and two males, aged between 2 and 4, an age range equivalent to human teenagers. This age group is more likely to survive the rigors of the wild, according to experts at the base, China's largest. Basketball superstar Yao Ming will attend a ceremony marking the release of the pandas to the 133-hectare valley, which can accommodate 30 to 40 giant pandas. About 50 to 100 red pandas, also an endangered species, will live there too. Experts have spent a year examining and selecting the pandas based on age, health and genetics. ""The program is part of a 50-year plan to return the endangered species to their natural habitat,"" Zhang Zhihe, director of the base, said. ""It helps boost the wild panda population and improve genetic diversity,"" Zhang said. ""The pressure of raising captive pandas will also be alleviated."" China now has 333 captive pandas. Because of the population density there is a growing risk of infection. Thirty to 40 pandas will follow the first six before the program is gradually extended to all the pandas living in the Chengdu base, which plans to increase the number of pandas to 120 to 150 in 10 years. ""The rehabilitation is to let pandas in captivity adapt to the wild,"" said Zhang Shanning, head of the giant panda protection division of the State Forestry Administration. ""It is crucial to ensure pandas master the necessary skills to survive the wilderness."" The first six pandas will spend increasingly less time with humans, including their breeder, before their release and will feed on bamboo instead of dietary supplements, according to the Chengdu base. Experts will monitor the released pandas by using the Global Positioning System. Their excrement will be tracked and manmade dens in the valley can also help experts monitor them. ""China has released some pandas to the wild or half-wild environment, but most of them either died or returned to captivity,"" Qi Dunwu, a researcher from the panda base, said. China has spent more than 50 years boosting the giant panda population since a sick panda was found in Majiagou Valley, Chengdu, in 1953. ""We will spend the next 50 years helping them return to the wilderness,"" Zhang Zhihe from the Chengdu base said. He added that only after the pandas regain the ability to survive in the wild will they be released. However, he admitted that the rehabilitation of pandas will be a long process. ""It may take several generations of pandas."" The average life span of a panda is 25 years. China Daily (China Daily 12/22/2011 page1)

142. Panda power to heal tsunami wounds By Cang Wei and Huang Zhiling (China Daily) 2011-10-18 08:00 BEIJING - A pair of giant pandas could be on their way to a zoo in the tsunami-affected area of Japan. It will be a heartwarming event if pandas are successfully sent to Japan to cheer the children up,"" said Zhang Jingshuo, an assistant professor of zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The idea originated from correspondence between Premier Wen Jiabao and a Japanese girl he met during his visit to Miyagi prefecture in late May following the magnitude-9 quake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan on March 11. According to Japan's Mainichi Daily News, the girl wrote to Wen after his visit, saying she loves pandas and often goes to see them when she travels. The premier reportedly sent a reply inviting her to China. Mayor of the disaster-hit city of Sendai, Emiko Okuyama, said she has communicated with the Chinese ambassador about leasing pandas to the city-run Yagiyama Zoological Park, according to Mainichi. The Japanese central government would back the bid if the zoo asks for its support, Mainichi said. An application for leasing two pandas to Japan has been received and is being processed, said the department of wildlife conservation and nature reserve management under the State Forestry Administration. However, there is a complicated application procedure and approvals from many departments are required. Officials from the Wolong National Nature Reserve and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province, the two major suppliers of pandas sent overseas, told China Daily that they have not received any information on leasing pandas to Japan's quake zone. Despite concern about radiation from the nearby nuclear power plant that was damaged in the quake, Zhang Hemin, chief of the administrative bureau of the Wolong reserve, said that pandas can live safely in Japan. Pandas will be safe if the people there are safe,"" said Zhang Hemin. The pandas' habitat would be examined by Chinese experts before they are leased, and the experts would accompany the pandas to the designated city to guarantee their health, said Zhang Jingshuo with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He also said that Japan is doing well in wildlife protection, and China should take this opportunity to learn from Japan's experience and its advanced technology in animal conservation. China gave a pair of pandas to Japan in 1972 to commemorate the normalization of bilateral relations. In 2000, it leased a pair of pandas to another Japanese zoo following the 1995 earthquake that devastated the city of Kobe. Nine pairs of pandas leased by China are now living in zoos overseas, according to Li Desheng, deputy chief of the administration bureau of the Wolong reserve. On Sept 9, 2010, Xing Xing, a 14-year-old male panda sent from Wolong to Japan in 2002, died at Japan's Oji Zoo after he was given anesthetic so keepers could collect his sperm. Ma Liyao contributed to this story. China Daily (China Daily 10/18/2011 page2)

143.Giant panda victim of weather By Huang Zhiling (China Daily) Updated: 2011-07-07 07:57 " People attempt to move the waterlogged body of a giant panda that was likely killed in rain-triggered floods and mudslides in Sichuan province. The animal's body was found in Zipingpu Reservoir in Yingxiu township, Wenchuan county, Sichuan, on Tuesday. Wang Chengdong / China News Service Flooding and landslides likely flushed animal out of habitat CHENGDU - The recent heavy rains, floods and landslides in southern China that have led to the deaths of several people and caused massive damage may have also claimed the life of a wild giant panda that was found dead in Yingxiu township, Wenchuan county, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Tuesday afternoon. An examination by veterinarians from the Wolong Nature Reserve in the county did not find any obvious external wounds on the male panda that was likely around 10. The autopsy found a considerable amount of water in the animal's lungs, said Zhang Hemin, chief of the reserve's administrative bureau. He said the results of the autopsy coupled with the circumstances of the panda's discovery led him to rule out the possibility that humans had killed the animal. He said it is probable that it drowned in the recent rainstorms and was washed out of its habitat into the Yingxiu section of the Minjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. Vets believe the panda had been dead for two or three days when it was found in Zipingpu Reservoir, which is fed by the Minjiang River. The animal was found by a villager from Yingxiu who was checking his cornfields on Tuesday morning, according to the Sichuan provincial department of forestry. Recent rainstorms and mudslides have wreaked havoc in many of Sichuan's nature reserves, damaging vegetation and infrastructure in both the Wolong and Anzihe reserves, the department said. It promised to patrol sites affected by mudslides and offer timely help to wild animals, including pandas. According to the State Forestry Administration, about 1,600 pandas live in the wild worldwide. The rainstorms and mudslides have taken their toll on humans. In Sichuan, 29,000 households have been without power since Monday as a result of heavy rain that lashed Wangcang county, said a county government spokesman. The weather has damaged all 20 schools in the county and 130 square meters of school buildings have completely collapsed while another 9,560 sq m are in danger of collapsing, he said. Three residents from the county were reported missing after the rainstorms. China Daily (China Daily 07/07/2011 page3)

144. Pandas get wild training workout (China Daily) Updated: 2011-06-03 07:59 CHENGDU - Panda researchers at the Wolong base in Sichuan province are planning to release six more pregnant bears into a semi-wild environment this year, hoping to help more captive-bred pandas return to the wilderness. The move will expand a wild training program that has proven successful with panda mother Cao Cao and her cub, Tao Tao, the first baby panda born under wild training, said Huang Yan, a senior zoologist and head of Wolong's wild training base. "The two pandas are healthy and have acquired basic survival skills in the wild," he said at a meeting at the Wolong Nature Reserve Administration on Thursday. Tao Tao survived a blizzard in March and has become more independent. "He's learned to mark and guard his own territory, a trait only wild pandas have." Cao Cao was released into a semi-wild environment at Wolong Nature Reserve during her pregnancy in July 2010. A month later, she gave birth to Tao Tao, a male cub. In February, the mother and cub were transferred into a much larger training base in Wolong. Though still fenced, their new home, rich in vegetation, is almost the same as the wilderness. The pandas will live there till early 2013, and then Tao Tao will be released into the wild mountains, Huang said. Panda keepers will stop feeding the two pandas by the end of this year and leave them to search for their own food, Huang said. China's plan to save the endangered species by releasing captive-bred pandas back into the wild began in 2003. Xinhua (China Daily 06/03/2011 page2)

145. Zoo's panda plans still in pipeline despite disputes By Zhang Chunyan (China Daily) Updated: 2011-05-23 08:02 EDINBURGH - Edinburgh Zoo said its recent internal problems would have no bearing on plans to bring two Chinese pandas to the city. "Edinburgh Zoo remains committed to delivering the world-class cooperation that we have agreed with China," a zoo spokesman told China Daily in an exclusive interview. Pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang, both born in 2003, will be brought from China to Edinburgh under an agreement signed in January. The pandas will be housed at the zoo under the custodianship of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS). "Our teams of highly qualified and committed keepers, conservation and operational staff are fully advanced in developing all aspects of the project," the spokesman added. The comment came after Donald Emslie, the then zoo chairman who signed the panda deal, resigned after a no-confidence vote. It also followed the recent suspensions of interim chief executive Gary Wilson and director Iain Valentine, the man behind the agreement to bring two pandas from China to the zoo, and the sacking of director Anthony McReavy. The management crisis began when fraud allegations were made in March against Wilson. Wilson, 47, was suspended amid accusations that he had siphoned money from the 4.5-million-pound ($7.3 million) Budongo monkey house to pay for a 50,000-pound ($80,980) extension to his home in Perthshire. Valentine and McReavy were put in charge during an investigation into the allegations. Fears have been mounting that the management upheaval will jeopardize the panda deal. However, the zoo insisted the deal would not be affected. Hugh Roberts, the new interim chief executive, is already working closely with the RZSS board to stabilize the zoo's operations, the spokesman said. In order to welcome the two pandas, the zoo specially renovated an enclosure, due to be completed in July. Darren McGarry, the zoo's animal collections manager, told China Daily: "The new home for pandas includes a panda kitchen and a panda hospital," adding that he hopes that the pandas can have a baby at the zoo. Recalling meeting Tian Tian and Yang Guang for the first time in March, Alison Maclean, the team leader who will care for them once they arrive at the zoo, said: "It was an amazing experience to come face-to-face with them." The pandas will be transported in tailor-made crates on a uniquely modified plane from China to Edinburgh. They will be the first pandas to live in the United Kingdom in 17 years. The zoo said it hopes to take delivery of the two pandas later this year, but no date has been set so far. China Daily (China Daily 05/23/2011 page11)

146.'Panda' pals bonded over giant shark ride By David German (China Daily) Updated: 2011-05-14 07:26 Voice actors Angelina Jolie and Jack Black pose during a photocall for the animated film Kung Fu Panda 2 at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. The film festival runs from May 11 to 22. Eric Gaillard / Reuters LOS ANGELES - Friendships that start with a ride-share aboard a giant shark are bound to go somewhere. Angelina Jolie and Jack Black first bonded seven years ago as they rode the 4.3-meter inflatable fish with Will Smith along the Mediterranean beach at the Cannes Film Festival, a stunt to promote their animated comedy Shark Tale. They had met before but ""only said 'Hi' in passing. That float on the shark was the beginning of a blossoming friendship,"" Jolie says. ""They say you learn more about somebody in an hour of play than in a year of conversation, so I think that happened."" Pals ever since, Black and Jolie reunited as voice co-stars in the martial-arts adventure Kung Fu Panda in 2008 and now its sequel, due in US theaters May 26. Sitting side by side for an interview at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel, the actors ponder questions about their friendship. How do their Kung Fu Panda characters resemble their real selves? What advantages would Black and Jolie have against the other in a real-life martial-arts match? And why haven't they scheduled a play date for their kids? Black gets a little dreamy-eyed thinking about how Jolie, who has played a lethal operative in Salt, Wanted and other action flicks, might take him down in a fight. ""Scissor-squeeze,"" Black says. ""I'm hoping for the scissor-squeeze, personally."" ""And I'm good at the scissor-squeeze,"" Jolie tells him. ""If I have to go, I would like it to be by the Angelina scissor-squeeze,"" Black says. But seriously, what if they ever came to blows? ""I can't imagine fighting you,"" Jolie says, then goes on to imagine it. ""It would be opposite styles ... I think I have a longer reach."" ""I feel like you probably know 12 ways to kill me,"" Black replies. ""I don't really know any ways, but I outweigh you, and they say that is an advantage. My advantage would just be crushing you. But you're very lithe and limber. I don't know. That would be a battle."" In Kung Fu Panda 2, their characters do wind up trading a few blows, although they are allies against a villain (voiced by Gary Oldman) using gunpowder and cannons to end the sway of kungfu and conquer ancient China. Black's tubby panda Po now is accepted as the ""Dragon Warrior"", the leader of a kungfu team that includes Jolie's Tigress and returning characters voiced by Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan and David Cross. Yet Po remains shaky as a commander, troubled by repressed memories of his early childhood and pressing his father, a goose, to find out how a feathered fowl came to raise a furry panda. Along the way, the fierce, tightly-wound Tigress administers some tough love on Po as they struggle to make their odd menagerie of a martial-arts family work. ""They're like the father and mother,"" Jolie says. ""They're like an odd married couple."" ""It's very much about our relationships with our parents,"" Black says. ""That's, of course, always a central part of every kid's joy and angst at the same time growing up. So it's a cool, primal thing that we tapped into for this installment of the Po journey."" Black and Jolie see clear similarities between themselves and their cartoon characters. For Black, Tigress and Jolie both show strength and intelligence on the surface, with a simmering danger underneath. ""There's an unresolved longing inside of Tigress. I'm not sure what it is. She's holding a secret, you definitely feel that,"" Black says. ""I feel that from Angelina, that she's got a secret and a wonderful, mysterious danger that is very attractive. Definitely part of the charisma, the secret ingredient. ""I think it's the perfect animated character for Angelina. Tigress! Cool, got a nice sense of style. You definitely want her on your side if you're going into battle."" Jolie says that Po shares Black's unabashed lust for life. ""As Jack says, when he does something, he does it all the way,"" Jolie says. ""Po has that beautiful sense of adventure and wonder and openness to just say, 'However you're going to judge me ... I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it. As fully as I can live it. Have a good time, be a good person, and so be it.""' Black had not yet taken his two young sons to see Kung Fu Panda 2, but Jolie arranged a screening at DreamWorks Animation for her six children with partner Brad Pitt. Jolie figured their kids, three adopted, three biological, might have questions about the Kung Fu Panda franchise's family themes, which include a revelation in the animated DVD short Secrets of the Furious Five that Tigress grew up in an orphanage. Associated Press (China Daily 05/14/2011 page6)

147.Property company becomes adoptive parent of cute panda By Lin Yan (China Daily) Updated: 2011-05-09 07:56 " Violet Lee, group managing director of GuocoLand China, holds panda Hao Hao at the adoption ceremony held at the Ya'an Bifengxia base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Southwest China's Sichuan province. Provided to China Daily CHENGDU - He likes to eat bamboo, climb trees and imitate what his mother does. As well as being carefully monitored by his caretakers at the Ya'an Bifengxia base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Southwest China's Sichuan province, Hao Hao, an 8-month-old baby panda, is also being closely watched by Violet Lee and her colleagues in Beijing. GuocoLand China Limited (GLC), the property arm of Asia's leading conglomerate Hong Leong Group, adopted the male panda on April 9. The company is the first from Malaysia to adopt a panda in China. ""It's amazing you can actually hold a panda as if you are holding a baby,"" said Violet Lee, group managing director of GLC, who describes herself as Hao Hao's ""adoptive mother"", after an adoption ceremony at the base. ""He was reacting to me. It's good to have a baby."" Hao Hao, whose name was chosen by the company, weighed only four ounces when he was born on Aug 14, 2010. His mother, Mei Qing, who also lives inside the base, is a survivor of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and is called the ""Hero Mother"". Lee, who was honored as the first non-China Panda Charity Ambassador for her efforts to protect China's national animal, said that the panda is the cutest of China's wild animals and ""since we are operating in China, we wanted to do something that's symbolic of China"". GLC is one of an increasing number of companies and individuals that want to offer a helping hand in taking care of the giant panda, one of the most endangered species in the world. So far more than 30 enterprises and 200 individuals have adopted pandas at the center, according to Zhang Hemin, director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Zhang added that the center receives about 3 million applications for adoption every year. Many people, including senior high school students, university students and retirees from home and abroad, express their willingness to come to work as volunteers at the center's bases. The 600,000 yuan ($91,931) donated by GLC will go to support panda protection, nursing and breeding research. Because of massive habitat destruction, there are now only about 1,600 pandas remaining in the wild, according to Zhang. Although the Wolong Nature Reserve is the largest panda reserve in the world, it was one of the areas most heavily affected by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Almost two- thirds of the panda reserve, comprising 80 percent of the panda's habitat, was hit by the quake. As a result of the devastation, the pandas have been temporarily relocated while the area is restored. The Wolong Nature Reserve Center plans to finish the restoration of the panda's natural habitat within the next five years, and the Chengdu Dujiangyan Panda Anti-disease Control Centre and Panda Research Center is due to be completed by 2012, Zhang added. Zhang said the disaster, which caused the death of one panda, prompted more people worldwide to show support for the protection of pandas, but he would still like more people to become involved. ""It costs more than 150,000 yuan every year to breed a panda at our center. Most of the funds come from the government but we also accept group or personal adoptions,"" he said. ""The donations will be used to conduct panda-related research and to protect the habitats of the wild pandas."" Saving and expanding the pandas' wild habitat is currently the most important and challenging task facing the center. ""If we can connect the scattered patches of wild habitat, it'll help pandas to survive by reducing inbreeding,"" he said. For individuals, it costs 40,000 yuan to adopt a panda for one year, and for organizations it costs a minimum 300,000 yuan to adopt a panda for life. The adopters can name the adopted panda and visit it free of charge. Lee said the adoption is a long-term commitment for GLC and only the beginning of the company's ""Passion for Conservation"" campaign, which will focus on environmental protection. China Daily (China Daily 05/09/2011 page22)

148.Chinese pandas bring big smiles to Tokyo zoo By Kazuyo Sawa and Takako Iwatani (China Daily) Updated: 2011-04-02 07:49 " A girl smiles as she holds a doll in front of giant panda Xian Nu, who is eating bamboo at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on Friday. Yoshikazu Tsuno / Agence France-Presse TOKYO - Hundreds of people waited for the gates to open at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on Friday morning, drawn by the debut of giant pandas Xian Nu and Bi Li, survivors of the strongest earthquakes for decades in both China and Japan. ""I've never seen such a crowd. The man at the front of the line has been here since Thursday morning,"" said security guard Kazuo Sato. ""Pandas really represent Ueno Zoo."" Female panda Xian Nu and male panda Bi Li arrived in Tokyo on Feb 21, just 18 days before a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami devastated northeastern Japan, leaving almost 28,000 dead or missing and a nuclear power plant crippled and leaking radiation. Both pandas had been housed at the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Sichuan province when a magnitude-8.0 quake struck about 180 kilometers away on May 12, 2008, killing almost 70,000 and leaving millions homeless. ""These are two very rare pandas, to have experienced both of the earthquakes,"" said Tetsurou Nogami, a Tokyo metropolitan government official responsible for the zoo. ""They were nervous right after the earthquake, but lately they've become very energetic and have good appetites."" Tokyo will donate $950,000 a year to panda research in China in return for the two pandas. Elsewhere in Japan, one giant panda resides at the Kobe Oji Zoo and eight pandas live in the Wakayama Adventure World. Ueno Zoo reopened on Friday after two weeks of closure as aftershocks from the March 11 earthquake continued to ripple through the country. Nogami expects an increase of visitors as school spring breaks have started. Ueno was one of the first zoos outside China to house giant pandas in 1972, when a pair arrived in Tokyo as a gift to mark the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two neighbors. Their arrival sparked an increase of almost 50 percent in visitors to the zoo the following year. Four-year-old Sakura Sato made her first charity donation on Friday while viewing the pandas, and her contribution will go to helping victims of the March 11 disaster. ""She begged to come and see the pandas,"" said her mother Mika. ""They're very cute and it's great to see them back at Ueno again."" Noting that Xian Nu appears to be in heat, Nogami said the birth of a baby panda at Ueno would be bright news for the nation. ""We're reopening the zoo to bring some smiles to Japan,"" Nogami said. ""I hope the pandas can have a positive effect on people."" Bloomberg (China Daily 04/02/2011 page1)

149.Panda food supplies may be in peril in southwest regions (China Daily) Updated: 2011-03-23 08:00 CHENGDU - The heaviest snowfall to hit Sichuan province in 20 years may cause food shortages for pandas living in wilderness area, a panda specialist reported on Tuesday. Wolong county's mountains, a major giant panda habitat, were hit by a rare blizzard on Sunday and Monday. As of Monday night, at least 22 cm of snow had accumulated, said Zhang Hemin, head of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center. The center, formerly based in Wolong, moved to Bifeng Gorge, in the mountains near the provincial capital, Chengdu, after an earthquake destroyed some of its facilities in May 2008. Only six of the center's pandas were receiving training on how to live in the wild, after being released from captivity. That takes place in a semi-wild, but enclosed, area in the mountains of Wolong, Zhang explained, adding: ""None of them was hurt by the blizzard."" Zhang and his colleagues saw no immediate risk to the pandas. The zoologists secretly look in on them and provide them with food when necessary to keep them from hunger or other risks, without disturbing their lives in the ""wild"". But the hidden panda life in the mountain wilderness may not be such a lucky thing,"" said Zhang. ""They may have trouble rummaging around for food now that the forests are covered with a thick layer of snow and some of the bamboo damaged."" Though the blizzard ended on Monday night, the weather bureau has forecast a new wave of snow in the coming week. We're watching the weather closely and when the snow melts a little, we'll send forestry personnel to check on the pandas,"" said Zhang. The zoologists think that about 145 wild pandas are up there roaming about the mountains, based on an earlier survey. Wolong Nature Reserve Administration officials said the blizzard destroyed about 2,000 hectares, or 2 percent, of the reserve's forest area, including 80 hectares of bamboo, the giant panda's staple food. The blizzard also disrupted traffic on local roads and power supplies in the county seat and forced 192 primary school students to stay home. Xinhua (China Daily 03/23/2011 page6)

150.Year of the Rabbit becomes 'Year of the Panda' in Oz By Stuart Beaton (China Daily) Updated: 2011-02-01 07:54 " This year, my wife Ellen and I are spending the lunar new year with a pair of giant pandas. We're not traveling to Sichuan province to visit them, though. Instead, we sought out the company of Wang Wang and Funi, a pair of giant pandas on loan from China at the Adelaide Zoo, in South Australia. The Year of the Rabbit has rather caught me on the hop, because when I booked our holiday, I was looking at the wrong calendar. I thought we'd be back in China for the start of Spring Festival and avoid all the travel rush. It wasn't until we were well aboard the plane, winging our way to Hong Kong airport, that Ellen broke the news to me. By then, it was a little late to alter the travel plans. So not long after we landed, Ellen called her parents to explain that they'd have to start the festivities without us. As a way of making amends, I sneakily ordered tickets to the zoo and picked out a time to see the pandas on loan from China. They're so popular here that hundreds of people at a time book and then line up to see them, so I had to make sure that I definitely had a slot reserved! Wang Wang and Funi's enclosure has all the features any self-respecting panda could possibly want, from daily deliveries of fresh bamboo to a specially chilled rock to lie on to escape the heat of the day. They really are the most pampered pair of pandas I've ever set eyes on! Surrounding the enclosure is a beautifully designed Chinese walkway and bamboo grove, built with help from Chinese and local craftsmen. ""It's really like being back in China,"" one visitor from Guangdong's provincial capital Guangzhou said. ""All the little details are there!"" After our visit to the pandas, Ellen offered to show my parents how to make jiaozi - traditional Chinese dumplings. We've spent the last few days shopping for the ingredients in and around Chinatown by the Adelaide Central Market. Instead of filling them with pork mince, though, we're going to stuff them with locally caught prawns, fresh mushrooms and spring onions from my parent's garden. I'm hoping that when it comes to folding the jiaozi, I fare better than I did last year at Ellen's parents' home in Tianjin municipality. I have been practicing with thinly rolled sheets of plasticine but fear that at the critical moments, my fingers will fail me. I'm not worried though, as Ellen is a fast and frantic folder, who can furiously fashion them far quicker than I believe I ever will. We've also been invited to go to a local dragon dance, organized by a group of Chinese expats living in Adelaide. They've promised there will be lots of drumming and cymbals, but unfortunately, no fireworks, as they're banned here. In lieu of the real thing, I'm told, they'll be using a very loud recording, ""as it's the noise that's important to scare off the bad luck"". All in all, our lunar new year celebrations should be as good here in Adelaide as they are back home in Tianjin, and we'll try our best to make sure all involved have a great time. Like us, Wang Wang and Funi, as well as many other Chinese, are a long way from home. But we'll be with friends and family, and most importantly, each other. China Daily (China Daily 02/01/2011 page20

151.Pandas get another five-year sojourn in Washington By Lu Chang (China Daily) Updated: 2011-01-21 08:06 " WASHINGTON - Giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian will remain in the National Zoo in Washington for another five years, Chinese officials told a news conference on Wednesday. Moments after President Hu Jintao and United States President Barack Obama ended a White House news briefing, the China Wildlife Conservation Association announced another five-year agreement with the zoo for giant panda breeding and research rights. The previous agreement expired at the end of 2010. Zang Chunlin, secretary-general of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, said that under the new agreement, China plans to send experts in anesthesia, breeding and raising cubs to the US. ""This is a great opportunity for the American people to know more about Chinese culture and to advance US-China friendship and deep understanding,"" Zang said. A signing ceremony to extend the agreement is set for Thursday at the zoo. The first panda couple, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived in 1972 and lived for more than 20 years at the zoo after former president Richard Nixon's historic visit to China. Last year, 5-year-old Tai Shan, the first surviving giant panda born at the National Zoo, was sent to China with ""very touching farewell activities"", Zang said. ""It is very hard for the local people to say goodbye whenever they have to bid farewell to the beloved pandas,"" said Zang, adding that pandas born overseas on loan belong to China and must be sent back after they become sexually mature. Giant pandas are one of the most endangered species in the world. Pandas are difficult to breed in captivity as females ovulate only once a year and can only become pregnant during that two or three-day period. About 1,600 giant pandas are estimated to live in the wild, most in Southwest China's mountainous regions. China Daily (China Daily 01/21/2011 page2)

152.Some of Expo's star pandas linger around By Wu Yiyao (China Daily) Updated: 2010-12-26 09:26 Most of the 10 pandas for the Shanghai Expo, which were previously destined to go back to Sichuan province after Dec 31, may remain to greet more tourists in Shanghai in 2011. More than 1.6 million visitors from all over the country have reportedly visited the pandas in the and the Shanghai Wildlife Zoo since their arrival at the metropolis on Jan 5. Now Shanghai Wildlife Zoo will also invite three or more pandas from China Wolong Panda Protection and Research Center in Sichuan to start a giant panda breeding center in Shanghai. The pandas have entirely got accustomed to their life in Shanghai and most of them will stay in the city in 2011, but details of plan are still being discussed, according to the Shanghai Zoo. The pandas were flown from the Bifeng Gorge Base of Sichuan's Ya'an City, where they spent the early part of their lives, acclimatizing to its balmy climate and mountainous geography. The pandas are now two-and-half years old, equivalent in human years to a 9-year-old child. In the past 11 months they have been enjoying their life in the two zoos, as their welfare was the zoo's top priority, even to the extent of catering to their narcissistic whims. Shanghai Zoo, for example, prepared a pond for female pandas so they can look at their reflections in the water. The ten pandas are often seen playing at slides, landing stages, climbing frames and taking food from special menus from keepers from China Wolong Panda Protection Research Center from Sichuan province. The pandas are quite naughty, said Yang Jie, one of the keepers, as they often hold on keepers' legs asking for more food. The fur of pandas always look a little dirty because they naturally secrete an oil which gives them that yellowish tinge, and their love of climbing on the apparatus and rolling around in the muck also adds to their unkempt appearance, Yang said. Tourists said they love the pandas for their charmingly naive manners. ""Sometimes they look like philosophers when they sit alone between trees and bamboos as if they are immersed in meditation,"" said Chen Fei, a 9-year-old visitor. Expo pandas are currently living at Shanghai Wildlife Zoo in Pudong district, and some of them will move to Shanghai Zoo after Dec 31. Both zoos host other popular animals including giraffes, hippos, monkeys and rhinos. China Daily (China Daily 12/26/2010 page15)

153.Pandas take leaf out of oracle octopus' book By Zheng Caixiong (China Daily) Updated: 2010-11-16 08:01 " GUANGZHOU - Twelve giant pandas, which are predicting the results of the Asian Games' competitions, have become major attractions at the Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou's Panyu district. The pandas draw many curious onlookers when they start 'predicting' results, with the help of the park's animal keepers. However, the pandas have been unable to emulate the feats of Paul the Octopus, who correctly predicted World Cup soccer results earlier this year. The pandas have tended to favor Chinese athletes. Before the opening ceremony, Panda Bo Si was asked to predict the winner of the Games' first gold medal, with a bamboo shoot representing a Chinese winner and an apple for an overseas winner. Yuan Xiaochao, the Chinese wushu expert, won the games' first gold medal on Friday. Bo Si picked the bamboo shoot, leading some cynics to suggest the result was predictable and the experiment poorly thought out as pandas exist on a bamboo diet. However, Huihui suprised onlookers by picking a red rocking horse representing China's Zhang Lin when asked to ""name"" the winner of the men's 200 freestyle on Sunday. Republic of Korea's Park Tae-hwan, represented by a green toy the panda ignored, went on to win the event. ""The pandas are expected to help the park attract more tourists during the Asian Games,"" said a park staff member. Chen Wenzhi, a white-collar worker, said she would definitely bring her seven-year-old daughter to see the pandas make their picks. ""The pandas are really cute,"" Chen told China Daily. All the pandas, including six babies, arrived in Guangzhou on Oct 28 from Sichuan province. They have formed an ""Asian Games Panda Group"" to spread luck and happiness. China Daily (China Daily 11/16/2010)

154. 'I postponed my big day soI can help save the pandas' (China Daily) Updated: 2010-10-11 07:52 Huang Xi was in the final stages of planning her wedding when she saw the advertisement for Project Panda, a global search for six ambassadors to raise awareness of these magnificent animals. The date was set: Sept 28. The venue was booked, the food was ordered and the guests were invited. When the day arrived, however, the 25-year-old was in Sichuan province, more than 1,000 kilometers away from her hometown, preparing for the final showdown in the contest to find six pambassadors. "When I saw the news about the job online in late August, I felt I just couldn't waste this opportunity," said Huang, a shopkeeper and self-confessed panda fanatic from Guangzhou, Guangdong province. "I thought she was joking when she asked to postpone the wedding," said her fiance, Cheng Binghua, a 27-year-old advertising manager. "I was speechless at first but I love her, so I needed to be there for her." Cheng was not the only one who was shocked. Both Huang's and Cheng's parents were initially resistant to the idea of rescheduling the big day, although they too got behind her. Luckily, the gamble paid off and Huang was chosen as one of the winners. As a child, Huang decorated her bedroom with countless panda toys and pictures. She even originally proposed having a panda-themed wedding. "I wanted all the guest to wear black and white," she explained, "but I realized that would make the ceremony look more like a funeral than a wedding." Huang's store in Guangzhou sells environmentally friendly products, ranging from cloth shopping bags to pencils made with recycled paper. She regularly runs workshops to promote a low-carbon lifestyle by teaching how to transform waste materials into useful items. Her shop has previously cooperated with the WWF China in a project to find homes for stray cats. "When I go back home (after the month of training), I'll definitely host lectures and teach people about the animal protection knowledge I learned at the Chengdu panda base," said Huang. The wedding will now be at the end of November and "all six other pambassadors have been invited", she added. (China Daily 10/11/2010 page1)

155.US-born panda groomed for greatness By Zhao Yanrong (China Daily) Updated: 2010-08-14 08:17 Beloved animal gains more than 20 kg since his arrival in Sichuan province YA'AN, Sichuan - Tai Shan, the United States-born giant panda, has been in his new Chinese home for just six months, but already his keepers want him to earn his keep - by starting a family. But first, they have to ensure that Tai Shan is fit and healthy enough to mate. To that end, Huang Shan, Tai Shan's feeder, cuts apples into small pieces and gives them to Tai Shan only when he stands up. ""It's a good exercise because it makes his hind legs stronger,"" Huang said. ""Pandas need strong legs to be able to mate."" And Tai Shan's new home at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Ya'an, Sichuan province, in Southwest China, should also be conducive to a panda's family life. Tang Chunxiang, the center's deputy director, said Tai Shan's home covers more than 2,000 square meters and is the largest in the center. It is in the center's ""embassy area"" which houses only pandas from overseas, he said, including Fu Long, another male raised in Europe but brought back to China last year. Once Tai Shan is fully mature, probably in about a year, the center will move a female panda into his home. ""If Tai Shan accepts her, he will indicate this by growling in a special way,"" Huang said. If not, Tai Shan will have many others to choose from as the center has more than 90 pandas, most of them females. Tang said a 24-hour camera has been set up in Tai Shan's front yard to record daily life. ""Most cameras cover a few panda homes at the same time, but this one is only for Tai Shan, to record every detail of his life,"" he said. Plenty of trees and bamboo plants cover the yard, simulating the environment in the wild. Tai Shan turned 5 early last month and about 20 of his fans from the US, the UK and Japan helped him celebrate his first birthday in China. They brought a special birthday cake made out of carrots, apples and ice, which Tai Shan gleefully wolfed down. When Tai Shan arrived in early February from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC, he weighed only 87 kg - a weight considered too light for a four-and- a-half-year-old panda. And he used to have a big belly, which meant he lacked exercise, Huang said. But Tai Shan has since gained more than 20 kg and now eats at least 50 kg of bamboo, 2 kg of carrots and 2 kg of panda cakes - made with corn, eggs and honey - a day. Huang said that after Tai Shan arrived, the center not only fed him more food, but helped him get into shape. ""We used to spread the food around so Tai Shan was forced to walk around the big area to find the food,"" Huang said. ""Now, he is much stronger and has a better body shape. And his hair is more lustrous."" Huang said Tai Shan is ""bilingual for sure"". ""At first, Tai Shan was not familiar with my Chinese orders, so I used his American feeder's orders - blowing a whistle to call him back inside for meals,"" Huang said. While Tai Shan ate, Huang would touch him gently and with a light Sichuan accent use his name and give simple orders. Within two weeks, Tai Shan could recognize Huang's voice and orders. Two months ago, an American group came to visit Tai Shan and spoke English to him. Tai Shan also responded to them, Huang said. ""Pandas are very intelligent."" Tai Shan has also begun to growl at other male pandas when he sees them in the back yard. ""It's like Tai Shan is claiming his territory,"" Huang said. The Ya'an center was built in early 2008 as a backup compound for the nearby Wolong panda center. ""The idea of the center was to isolate pandas if an infectious disease was threatening them,"" Tang said. During the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, the Wolong center, then the biggest panda reserve center in China, was destroyed and all the pandas were moved to Ya'an. Wolong, also in Sichuan province, is now being rebuilt and most of the pandas at the research center are being moved back gradually. ""We don't have enough room for all the pandas,"" Tang said. China Daily (China Daily 08/14/2010 page1)