Panda experts have trained giant pandas born in captivity to live in the wild for years.
With the training plan going on, giant panda Cao Cao and its cub are released into the outer ring of Wolong Nature Reserve on Sunday, after the first period of wild life trainings. This is the first time for a panda cub born in the half-natural environment to live in a wild environment.
Before moving to the new environment, Cao Cao and its cub lived in the half-natural environment with an elevation of 1,800 meters. As they have performed well in the first period of wild trainings, they will be introduced to the mountaintop at an altitude of 2,100 meters. To enable the pandas to survive in the wild, even breeding experts will keep a distance from their new home and monitor their daily activities through hidden cameras.
In the first period of wild life training, breeding experts still provided the pandas with food. However, the pandas will live in tree holes or caves and try to forage for food after moving to the mountaintop. According to the experts, the outer ring of Wolong Nature Reserve covers an area of 40,000 square meters and is almost the same as in the wilderness. The area is rich in vegetation, especially bamboos, which are giant pandas' favorite.
Fences around the area are specially-designed to ensure the pandas' safety from being harmed by outside animals and prevent them from getting out of the area.
The new home for pandas is a paradise to live in, with appropriate climate and topography and abundant food. Experts will follow the pandas' activities and health conditions by means of a monitoring system and GPS. It is hoped that the cuddly bears will eventually learn to survive in the wild after two years.
Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered animals. About 1,590 pandas live in the wild in mountains of northern Sichuan and neighboring Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.
China started a giant panda training project in 2003 to teach the animals to live in the wild. But the project suffered a major setback when Xiang Xiang, a five-year-old male panda, was found dead in a remote part of the Wolong Nature Reserve in February 2007. Xiang Xiang was released into the wild in April 2006 after nearly three years of training.
