Same tree in the same place The national park has photographed the courtship of giant pandas again after five years

When he set off in the morning, Wang Chao did not expect that the usual patrol tour in the Giant Panda National Park would capture a rare picture of the giant panda courtship, and the last time he took the same picture in the same place was five years ago. He felt that he would always remember this day, April 12, 2022.

Five years later, he squatted again on the giant panda to court

At about seven o'clock in the morning, in Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, in the Tangjiahe area of the Giant Panda National Park, in a grassroots protection station under the Skyscraper Ridge, Wang Chao and his colleague Li Chenglong had prepared equipment for entering the mountain, such as water-filled thermos cups, bread, vernier calipers, latex gloves, test tubes, self-sealing bags, cameras, mobile phones, forms, and a long machete to open the way. The vernier caliper is a tool used to measure the size of giant panda feces and bite joints, latex gloves are used to collect giant panda feces and hair, tables are used to record survey data, and mobile phones can act as GPS for easy positioning.

The weather was fine, and when the sun came out, the dew on the blades of the treetops and grass quickly dissipated, which was good news for those who entered the mountain. The goal of this patrol is to collect data on giant pandas. A few days ago, the infrared camera they arranged captured the traces of giant pandas, and this time they were ready to crouch there to see if they could meet the giant pandas.

This time is very precious, every year in March and April, is the season of giant panda courtship mating, but it is not easy to really photograph the giant panda courtship. According to previous records, the interval between giant panda estrus may be as long as 3-5 years, and the last time a giant panda courtship was photographed was on April 12, five years ago, by another colleague of Wang Chao, Ma Wenhu. At that time, two pandas were fighting and courting on the branches of a dead tree, and Ma Wenhu was resting under the skyscraper, occasionally hearing the cries of giant pandas. After looking around, a giant panda was found on the tops of a red birch tree about 1500 meters away from him. According to the voice, Ma Wenhu judged that in the arrow bamboo forest under this tree, there are many giant pandas active, perhaps they are fighting for the right to court under the tree.

This time, Wang Chao wanted to try to see if he could shoot the scene of the giant panda courtship again like five years ago.

On the way to find the giant panda, I met the red-bellied golden pheasant

The protection station is located under the Skyscraper Ridge, surrounded by peaks in the sky, there is no road in the reserve, most of the time, they will follow the animal tracks, along the way, will meet a variety of cherished protected animals.

Less than 1 kilometer away, a lonely wild boar passed through the animal tracks, saw the people, and quickly fled. Wild boars are social animals, but when they forage, they always bow their heads and arch the ground, do not look at the road, so there are often lonely wild boars. Wang Chao met a young wild boar, estimated to be less than 1 year old, less experienced, and more likely to fall alone. For the mother of wild boar, the piglet is not worth caring about, and the wild boar is more fertile and more extensive.

Less than 100 meters away from the wild boar, three red-bellied golden pheasants parked in the bushes, two males and one female, red-bellied golden pheasants are national second-level key protected wild animals, males are golden red, tail feathers are extremely long, females are mostly gray-brown, far less beautiful than males.

On the top of the head of the red-bellied golden pheasant, flocks of willow warblers sing in the treetops, and there are many kinds of willow warblers that the average person can hardly distinguish. Even Wang Chao, who has been walking in the mountains and forests for many years, is difficult to distinguish from the appearance. But their sounds have their own characteristics, and those who listen to them will know which kind of willow warbler is calling.

Further on, two red-bellied horned pheasants broke into view again, and the red-bellied horned pheasant is also a national second-level key protected animal, it is more gorgeous than the red-bellied golden pheasant, with a long black crown on the top of the head, flanked by cobalt-blue fleshy horns, which is also the origin of its name.

From Nobo Station to the area where the giant pandas are active, it is about 3.5 kilometers, and there are no roads in this distance, and there are many magical animals. For example, the twisted horned antelope and impala, which are listed as vulnerable, have not been encountered this time, only the feces on the road, which proves that they have walked here.

Faintly, the cries of giant pandas were heard

After about 1 hour and 40 minutes, Wang Chao and his colleagues arrived at the giant panda's activity area, which is about 1 square kilometer of mountain forest, wang Chao and they installed four infrared cameras. This is one of the most commonly used equipment for wildlife workers, cheap, large storage, with both dynamic sensing and infrared sensing functions, if there is an animal passing, the camera will start, take a photo. But there are also troublesome times, under the dynamic induction, the wind blows bamboo leaves and other movements, which will also make the camera start. Therefore, they have to check regularly and replace the memory card, which is also one of the daily tasks.

None of the four cameras captured any traces of giant pandas. Wang Chao was a little disappointed, he decided to climb to the top of the mountain to see, from the place where the camera was installed to the top of the mountain, about 1 km or so, there is no road, two people have to climb for an hour.

By the time we reached the top, it was already 11 a.m. Here is the highest place of the Skyscraper Ridge, standing at the top of the peak, the sky and the earth are wide, the surrounding peaks are at the foot, looking around, the tall broad-leaved forest covers the mountain range, under the broad-leaved forest, the bamboo shoots in the mountain have not yet fully grown.

Arrow bamboo is one of the favorite foods of giant pandas, especially bamboo shoots. April is the turn of spring and summer, when the bamboo shoots in the mountains have not yet fully grown, and the giant pandas are likely to be active in the dense bamboo forest, but they cannot be seen until they are full and climb the trees.

On the ridge at an altitude of 2300 meters, the temperature is very low, and it takes enough patience to wait for an unknown result, and what supports them is the experience of working in the mountain forest all year round, and the expectation of the giant pandas.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Li Chenglong first heard the cry of the giant panda, and he told Wang Chao. When Wang Chao listened, the sound disappeared again, until more than 10 minutes later, the cry came again.

Five years ago, the same tree in the same place

The voice was sharp and short, it seemed to be fighting fiercely, the sound was intermittent, and after more than half an hour, Wang Chao found a white dot on a treetop about 1500 meters away, which seemed to be a giant panda. The telephoto lens confirmed Wang Chao's judgment that it was a female giant panda, lying on a branch, and Wang Chao felt that the sound was not from it, and there might be other pandas under the tree.

When giant pandas court, it is the female who chooses the male. Usually, a female giant panda in estrus will climb to a high tree, wait quietly, wait until the nearby male pandas have arrived, gather under the tree, decide the winner, and the final winner is eligible to climb the tree and wait for the female to choose. This is also the reason why Wang Chao feels that there are other giant pandas under the tree.

Sure enough, not long after, the cries stopped, and another giant panda slowly climbed up the tree.

It is not easy for the victorious male to please the female, and in the camera lens, the male who is slowly approaching seems to annoy the female, is slapped and almost falls off the branch.

On April 12, the male panda was not allowed to climb the tree, but the female giant panda was slapped several times. Photographed by interviewees

On this branch, the two giant pandas began a long confrontation, about two hours, and finally, the male seemed to be a little impatient, and took the lead in getting off the tree, and the female also slowly climbed down and fell into the arrow bamboo forest, never to see them again.

After returning home, Wang Chao checked the records and found that five years ago, in 2017, the time of the giant panda courtship was photographed, which was April 12, and the place was here, even the same tree.

Will they be the same pair? Perhaps, this is a question that will never have an answer.

Once came face to face with a giant panda

In the days that followed, Wang Chao would return to this mountain forest where giant pandas were found courting every day, and this precious scene was worthy of their close follow-up. But only the next day the panda was found again. It was April 13, Wang Chao and another station attendant, set off at six o'clock in the morning, climbed to the top of the mountain, and waited until more than two o'clock in the afternoon to see a panda climbing up the treetops, but until the evening, there was only this one.

On that day, the giant panda stayed in the tree for more than four hours, went down in the middle, and was woken up once by a crow while sleeping in the treetops.

On April 13, crows woke up giant pandas sleeping in the treetops. Photographed by interviewees

On the third day, they stayed for a day and saw nothing. On the fourth day, it snowed on the mountain, and the giant pandas still did not come.

Perhaps, the giant pandas have successfully courted and once again escaped into the mountains and forests, or perhaps they have changed places. Even so, the images that have been captured are precious enough and enough to reward their waiting.

"This is the norm, wild animals do not act according to people's wishes, but people must observe them and understand them according to their activity laws."

Wang Chao began his wildlife conservation work in 2019, and the scene of the giant panda courtship is rare and difficult to encounter, but this is not the closest time for him and the giant panda.

The closest time was in March 2021, when he and three colleagues went on quarterly patrols and spent 18 days in the mountains. It was also on that occasion that he came into almost face-to-face contact with the giant panda. "Recently, it was only five or six meters." Wang Chao said.

Giant pandas are not afraid of people, on the contrary, people who are close to them will be afraid of giant pandas. The giant panda is not as harmless as it looks, on the contrary, it is the overlord of the mountains and forests, the black bear on the skyscraper, and most of the time, it is not their opponent.

The face-to-face experience with giant pandas gave Wang Chao more opportunities to understand them, such as which part of the bamboo they like to eat, and when they climb trees, do they like lush trees or dead trees? These are all topics that Wang Chao understands and researches.

Dangers in the mountains are often sudden

There are many times to enter the mountain, there will always be a narrow road with animals, there are many dangerous animals in the mountain, enough to threaten the safety of people, such as black bears, horned antelopes and so on.

People tend to be more wary of predators, believing that they can hurt people, but in reality, herbivores are more dangerous. Wang Chao told the Beijing News reporter that predators will observe prey and judge whether they can win, people will guard against them, and they will also guard against people. They often find human tracks earlier and avoid them early, perhaps in their eyes, human beings, two-legged upright animals, are strange and dangerous. But herbivores don't have such a habit, they are always cute, but they are more likely to pose a threat to people.

Wang Chao's colleague once met a grumpy twisted horned antelope face to face. At that time, they were walking along the animal tracks in a forest of arrows and bamboo, which was easier to walk and easier to observe the animals. The dense forest of arrows and bamboo obscured the view, and when they broke through the bamboo forest, they suddenly found that a twisted horned antelope was in front of them, rushing straight towards them.

At the moment of emergency, the two of them jumped off a ridge more than two meters high at the same time, hugged a tree under the ridge, and avoided the charge of the horned antelope, and the horned antelope did not stop, and ran all the way along the tracks of the beast.

Animals with cubs are also one of the sources of danger. Usually, they are more vigilant and will avoid people from a distance, but if they can't, there is a high probability of conflict.

The same is true for giant pandas, but when they nurse their cubs, they usually hide in more secluded places, not to avoid humans, but to guard against other predators.

In the years that Wang Chao worked, only the infrared camera placed in the wild captured several pictures of giant pandas with cubs. In December 2021, a giant panda with a cub who has no independent mobility, waded through the snow.

In December 2021, infrared cameras captured a giant panda with a cub that had just been born and could not walk. Photographed in the Tangjiahe area of the Giant Panda National Park

More than 3 months later, the camera in the same position once again photographed the mother and son, at this time, the cub can already walk on its own. They linger in the frame for a moment before slowly leaving.

In March 2022, infrared cameras again captured the mother and son, and the cubs were already able to waddle in the snow. Photographed in the Tangjiahe area of the Giant Panda National Park

Beijing News reporter Zhou Huaizong

Edited by Zhang Shujing Proofread by Chen Diyan