Fig. (1) Fig. (3): The keeper feeds the baby panda.
Figure (2): Baby panda.
Provided by Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
In the past 30 years, Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base has broken through a number of technical bottlenecks based on the 6 diseased and hungry giant pandas rescued in the 1980s, without capturing one from the wild, and has bred 143 giant pandas, 214 litters, and 152 existing pandas, which is the world's largest captive giant panda artificial breeding population, creating a miracle of endangered species protection and breeding. Along with the guardians of the miracle, there are also those who are indispensable to the breeders - the panda's grandparents and mothers.
No. 1375 Panda Avenue in the northern suburbs of Chengdu, the shallow and undulating hills are lined with trees and green bamboo forests. In an idyllic scenery, the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base is hidden.
It is a world-renowned research institute for the protection of rare and endangered wild animals such as giant pandas, and is also one of the must-choose attractions for Chinese and foreign tourists to come to Chengdu. The base simulates the wild ecological environment of giant pandas, the mountain scenery and artificial landscape are skillfully integrated, and the mountain forest is scattered with giant panda delivery rooms, panda villas, panda hospitals, panda kitchens, and scientific research centers. Giant pandas of different ages thrive here, in the museum, on the lawn, there are giant pandas playing and playing, some sitting and meditating, and some hanging on the trunk of the tree to nap, each has its own place, and its happiness is harmonious.
Panda's digestion and utilization of bamboo is low
Cleaning the "soup" should also be meticulous
Villa 1 lives with 5 adult pandas. At 9:30 a.m., when the reporter walked into the panda villa, the breeder Zhang Yue was cleaning the panda pen, and the giant panda Qiao Qiao next to him was chewing on a pile of fresh bamboo shoots with relish. "These days, because of the weather, pandas are reluctant to go outdoors, so they are willing to hide in indoor enclosures with air conditioning." This period of time to eat bamboo shoots, this thing is tender, easy to digest, pandas eat long meat fast. Zhang Yue's tone was full of pity.
Taking care of giant pandas is both a physical job of getting up early and greedy, but also a patient and meticulous job. After taking over at 8 o'clock, Zhang Yue began to be busy, moving hundreds of kilograms of fresh bamboo shoots into the pen house one by one and distributing them to the pandas. He calculated for the reporter that each adult panda had to eat about 70 kilograms of bamboo shoots a day, and 5 adult pandas had to eat 350 kilograms of bamboo shoots every day, which had to be transported by the breeders with a small cart.
"Giant pandas have a low digestion and utilization rate of bamboo, and they are more picky, eating only tender parts. An adult panda eats 20 to 30 kilograms of bamboo a day, and actually prepares 40 kilograms for them. ”
Cleaning the enclosure in addition to strength, but also fine, cleaning to eat the remaining bamboo shoot residue and panda feces separate, panda feces in the bag weighing records and then take out the garbage can. "Well, the rice is green, the color is normal, and the amount is enough." Not bad! Zhang Yue said while registering. The reporter saw that the register clearly recorded the food fed every day, trace elements and the weight of the feces excreted by each panda as a reference for the growth of pandas.
Adult pandas are aggressive, and the panda cages are all left and right suites, one eats bamboo, and the other is used to play and sleep. Every time Zhang Yue cleaned a enclosure, he had to carefully drive the panda to the next enclosure and lock it, rinse the ground and then let the panda return, and so on. After cleaning inside and out, it took nearly 3 hours, and Zhang Yue, who was red and sweaty, stopped to rest and drink saliva.
Zhang Yue, a 27-year-old native of Chengdu, graduated from Chengdu Agricultural Science and Technology Vocational College in 2012 with a major in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, and was attracted by an online message about recruiting breeders at the Chengdu Giant Panda Base. "Some of my classmates went to the pet hospital and some went to the company. I always felt that the pattern was too small. Being able to feed the giant pandas and see the national treasure every day is so attractive to me! He didn't hesitate to sign up for an animal since he was a child, and after only a week of internship, he completely fell in love with the job.
When he works, he always likes to use hair bands to pin his hair, and some tourists like his personality and call him "Hairband Daddy". "What kind of personality, oh, the hair is too long to take care of, the hoop is for the convenience of work." Zhang Yue said.
Juvenile pandas have sharp claws and teeth
Nurse "Good scar forget the pain"
Mei Yan, the "net red nurse" wearing black-rimmed glasses, laughed as cute as a panda. After working for 8 years, he has fed more than 50 giant pandas and is a senior panda keeper. Due to a video of a young panda competing with her for a bamboo basket, she has more than 50,000 fans on Sina Weibo, and many netizens envy her for being able to hold a cute panda baby at any time, "In fact, the mother of the bear child is not good." Mei Yan said.
This year, Mei Yan cared for nine juvenile pandas under the age of one and one adult panda. Catching up with the night shift, every morning at 6 o'clock in the morning, Mei Yan will be busy feeding 9 cubs: 5 as long as they are sent to the panda mother, the remaining 4 only need artificial feeding milk powder, because the panda gives birth to twins can only breastfeed one. Young pandas less than one year old have high food requirements, and the ratio of artificial milk powder to water is 1 gram. After feeding one by one, the cubs are sent to the outdoor playground. These chubby little guys, who already weigh more than 30 pounds, hugged down one after another, and Mei Yan was tired and sweaty.
Juvenile pandas are cute, but their claws and teeth are sharp, and they are caught and bitten by them if they are not careful. Mei Yan's whole body bites and scratches no less than a hundred, often good old scars and new wounds. Despite this, she still takes care of each giant panda as if it were her own child, "They are just naughty, play with you." 」 ”
The little guys are very lean and temperamental
Coax the child to come along
The busiest day is every spring when the panda is in heat breeding and waiting for delivery, everyone automatically enters the "white plus black" mode, basically a night shift and then another day shift, at least 5 nights a week in the unit.
When encountering calving, the keeper must get up every two hours to observe; after the panda has signs of waiting for delivery, the keeper will be on duty 24 hours a day, and accompany the panda every step of the way. "When the amniotic fluid breaks, every minute is recorded. But some pandas are slow to give birth. Once a panda, at 6:30 in the morning the amniotic fluid was broken, at 11:30 in the evening it was born, more than 10 hours, the record made a stack of paper. Mei Yan said.
"Although the panda is cute, raising a giant panda is not just about playing with it." Deng Tao, the head of the breeding class at the Moon Maternity Ward, said, "The work of the breeder is three hearts: love, patience and responsibility. We are divided into 3 shifts every night to monitor whether the cub's body temperature is normal, whether the sleep is normal, and whether it has eaten enough breast milk. ”
Deng Tao's wife, Li Jia, has been a breeder for 14 years, and li Jia has been thinking about how to avoid pandas choking on milk for a long time. "The small bottle can't be held too high, don't let the nipple be filled with a lot of milk, if it sucks in, it may choke."
In addition to fine feeding, you must also understand their minds. Sometimes it's time to go back to the circle, but they've just taken a long nap and don't want to move; or they're having fun and don't bother to pay attention to you. The keeper had to come along like a child, play with them for a while, or hold them back. In short, can not be hard to come, the little guy is fine, there is a temper, the mood is not good, it is not good to eat, but also affect the development of the body.
In order to make the pandas more physically enhanced, the keepers tried their best. Sometimes, they will hide the panda's favorite apple banana in all corners of the outdoor playground, or in the cave, or on the branches, so that the panda can climb the tree and climb the mountain to find it, increase the panda's radius of activity, exercise physical fitness, and exercise thinking. Sometimes, simply throw the apple into the water, let the panda fish it out, and then take a bath. Pandas are ignorant and roaring to find food, which often makes tourists happy.
As a keeper, I have to be with pandas every day, and I have very little time to contact the outside world. Base keepers also often travel to other cities to raise giant pandas, and when they go, they are not home for half a year, and many breeders' marriages have to be solved internally. Zhang Yue's lover was engaged in science popularization at the base. Mei Yan's husband is also a breeder, and if both sides are on night shift, they can only go home to meet each other in 4 days.
Breeders work hard and their salaries are not high. But because of their love, they persevered, worked hard, and were full of interest. Although Mei Yan's home is only a 10-minute drive from the panda base, Mei Yan did not return home in June this year due to taking care of the newborn cubs. Zhang Yue's mobile phone has 4 alarm clock times, one for each shift time. "That way there's no delay. Although the daily work is repetitive, but the baby is different every day, from the birth of the powder toddler, to grow hair, long black circles; from eating milk to eating nest head, eating bamboo, there is a special sense of achievement, feel 'my son has grown up', the heart is particularly proud! Zhang Yue, who was not married recently, did not have children, but he mouthed a "my son", and the tone could not hide the love and pity.
Zhang Yue held a bunch of keys in his hand, and only one of them was left, polished brightly. "I came here on August 28, 2012. It's been 4 years. This is my first key to the enclosure, and I am reluctant to throw it away when it is broken. "Over the years, in his spare time, he completed his undergraduate studies in veterinary medicine at Xichang University and is pursuing a master's degree in veterinary medicine at Sichuan Agricultural University." I love my job and hope to use what I have learned to make the giant pandas live better. ”
In the company and love of the grandparents, this group of round and rolling grew up healthy day by day.
■ Tips ・ Experience caring for giant pandas
The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Foundation has long carried out a public education project at the Chengdu Panda Base, the Giant Panda Apprenticeship Conservation Activity, which aims to understand the living and diet of giant pandas and experience the difficulties and hardships of giant panda rearing by allowing participants to act as panda nurses and learn to care for giant pandas.
Who is eligible? Caring people who have made practical contributions to the cause of giant panda conservation.
Method 1: Donate to the adopter or representative;
Method 2: Those who have participated in the volunteer work of chengdu giant panda breeding research foundation for more than 200 hours;
Method 3: Individual donation amount of more than RMB 2,000.
Every day, the "probationary activities" are carried out from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 14:00 to 16:00 p.m. at the "Giant Panda Conservationist Apprenticeship Activity" activity station in the solar maternity room of Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base.
At the end of the event, you will receive a set of work souvenirs and a beautiful giant panda souvenir.
This edition is drafted by Zhang Fangman
(Editor-in-charge: Yuan Hanling, Gao Hongxia)