Giant Panda： Flagship Species Favored by Chinese People

In 1977， famine of giant pandas in Sichuan， China， attracted rapidly the global attention and debate on protecting this endemic species that exists only in China. A song named "Panda Mimi" gained popular around the country and the trend of civil actions to protect giant pandas was formed. In order to protect the ancient and endangered speciesbetter， China developed a two-pronged strategy of in situ and ex situ conservation.

However， in the wild， giant panda habitat is highly fragmented， and some even live in ecological islet， where reproduction and communication are difficult. Therefore， in addition to in-situ conservation， ex-situ conservation is also very important. The core of ex-situ conservation is to advance scientific research of giant pandas in captivity， breeding， genetic management， etc. When artificial breeding pandas reach a certain amount， they will be released into the wild after some wild training， which could promote the protection of wild populations of endangered small let panda family to reproduce sustainably and survive. However， it is a long and rugged road.

February 18， 2015 is the New Year's Eve. When Chinese people were celebrating the coming of the New Year， the staff of China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center was working in the giant panda breeding field. During these two days， a female giant panda "Long Xin" demonstrated strong estrus behavior. "Long Xin" is the first giant panda reached estrus in the New Year. To help "Long Xin" breed successfully， the staff gave up family reunion and waited for breeding time of "Long Xin". They tried to let "Long Xin" mate with male pandas "Lo Lo"， " YiBao" and "Topol" respectively， yet failed each time. To make use of the best time of conception for "Long Xin"， the staff decided to adopt artificial insemination. Finally in 23：00， New Year's at the last moment， "Long Xin" successful natural insemination.

It was not the first time for this 15-year-old "Long Xin" to mate and she has given birth for 6 times， in total 10 babies. Breeding of captive giant pandas is not a problem any more， but back in the "Panpan" giant panda （father to "Long Xin"） generation， there were problems like difficulties to reach estrus， to mate and concept， and to nurse and survive， all of which restrict the development of captive panda population.

Captive panda population continued to grow after overcoming three difficulties.

Back in the early 1980s， Chinese government and World Wildlife Fund （WWF） co-built the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center. Although the Center was equipped with the world's most advanced facilities， the staff knew little about the breeding of captive giant pandas. Captive panda population could barely survive despite the introduction of new blood from the wild. To break through the technical difficulties of artificial breeding of giant pandas， China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center led and implemented the "giant panda breeding technology research program" in 1991， involving Beijing， Chengdu， Chongqing Zoo to form a group in tackling the "trilemma".

The best time for female giant pandas to fertilize is generally 1 or 2 days each year， so if the opportunity is not seized， we have to wait for a year. The Research Center used technical methods to predict the best breeding time and greatly improved pregnancy rates for giant pandas. Through complete stud animal breeding techniques， 80% of childbearing-age-male pandas could mate naturally； for pandas that face the three difficulties， or could not concept through natural mating or when natural mating does not work well， we adopted artificial insemination. This "double insurance" policy greatly improved the giant panda pregnancy rate and increased the genetic diversity of captive giant pandas.

A giant panda usually gave birth to 1 to 2 cubs each time， with half the possibility of single births and the other half twins. Newborn giant panda cub is a veritable "preterm child"， which weighs about 150 grams and many of whose organs are not fully developed， thus extremely difficult to survive. When panda mother give birth to twins， most of them choose to abandon one， or both. To make sure each panda cub survives， the Research Center creatively use the "bionic nursery" concept to nurse the abandoned cubs， that is to carry out artificial nursery by imitating the mother-cub nursery environment.

After 10 years of research， the Center basically resolved the three difficulties， and the captive panda population continued to grow. In 2011， we fully implemented the "eugenics" concept on the steadily growing giant panda population. We conducted rigorous blood and genetic management to avoid inbreeding of giant pandas， set restrictions on breeding age， so as to phase out the elderly pandas in the breeding team， let most of the giant panda to breed every other year to give those female animals time to rest and recover， and allowed the cubs to quit breast feeding naturally so that the pups have more opportunities to spend time with their mothers and learn. "Eugenics" helps to achieve the transition from emphasis on the number of captive breeding populations to the quality of captive population， thus maximizing the genetic diversity of human-breeding giant panda population and establishing a sustainable captive population with prime genetic structure.

By the end of 2014， the Center has delivered 172

times， in total 247 cubs， 215 among which have survived. The number of captive giant panda population reached 200， accounting for 53% of the worlds captive pandas， currently the largest and the world's most vital panda population in captivity. At the same time， the Center has become the primary exporting hub that conduct research cooperation and public education around the world.

Reintroduction： pandas

way back home

The number of captive giant panda population has steadily increased， while the wild panda population is facing the risk of segmentation degradation. Although the overall development is towards the right direction in terms of panda habitat environment， because of human activities， wild giant panda's habitat is seriously fragmented， in total having about 30 isolated small populations， who has difficulty of communicating with each other and low genetic diversity， thus facing great risk of extinction. It is urgent and necessary to reintroduce some giant pandas to rejuvenate in small populations .

To reintroduce giant pandas into the wild after training them to adapt to wild life， allow them engaged with wild giant panda population can increase number of wild giant panda population and their genetic diversity. This is an important objective of ex situ conservation and scientific research and breeding of the giant panda， as well as the mainstream trend in giant panda research and protection in the future. However， reintroduction of animals has always been difficult and has a low success rate worldwide. It is especially more difficult to reintroduce large animals， with a success rate lower than 10%.

In 2003， the State Forestry Administration officially launched the captive giant panda adaptation and reintroduction program. With a stable captive panda population， premier adaptation training environment and experienced research team， the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center has become a major implementer of the project.

In the first phase of this project， sub-adult giant panda "Xiang Xiang" became the first test object. In April 28， 2006， "Xiang Xiang" was released into the wild. However， nearly a year after the reintroduction， "Xiang Xiang" fell to death in the battle of fighting for territory with wild pandas. This was a heavy blow， but staff of the Center did not give up and continued to explore rules， improved technologies， and summed up systematic training methods for giant panda cubs that were brought up by mother pandas.

In 2010， the Center tackled the dual pressures of panda off-site transfer， resettlement and reconstruction in the aftermath of "5.12" earthquake， and started the second phase program which focuses on training panda mother to bring up cubs. "Cao Cao"， "Zi Zhu"， "Ying Ping" and "Zhang Ka" those who completed breeding were the four female pandas selected as test object in the second phase of the project and began to live in Hetaopingof the Wolong Giant Panda Training Base. In August 3 that year， giant panda "Cao Cao" successfully gave birth to "Tao Tao"， who became the first baby panda born in the Training Base.

It has been several years after "Tao Tao" was reintroduced， and all the data show that "Tao Tao" has basically adapted to local food， climatic conditions， and is growing healthily in the region. The training program of captive giant panda has also made progress. In 2013， the first artificially bred female giant panda "Zhang Xiang" was released into the wild. In 2014， giant panda "Xuexue" returned to the wild. While in Wolong， more batches of pandas will return after receiving adaptation training....

In Hetaoping of Wolong Training Area， "Tao Tao" successfully withstood the storm， mudslides， snowstorms and other adverse geological and climatic disasters. And its ability to survive in the wild improved. Comparative study found "Tao Tao" which grew up with mother in a completely natural environment， grows up well compared with panda cubs of the same age， and demonstrates better survival and learning skills.

In September 7， 2012， in the Summary of Adaptation Training and Validation Meeting of Releasing "Tao Tao" into the Wild， experts believed that after two years of the mother-cub training program， "Tao Tao" showed high vigilance， was capable of telling predators and associated animals， demonstrated survival abilities such as finding food， utilizing space and habitat， therefore it could be released into the wild.