Recently, the "Panda Ambassador" classroom training of the Chongqing Youth Nature Exploration Panda Action "Entering Chongqing, Hong Kong and Macao, Falling in Love with Giant Pandas" was held in Shuren Sixian Primary School in Chongqing Science City. Yin Yanqiang, "Dr. Panda" and the technical director of giant pandas at Chongqing Zoo, came to the class to decipher how to enrich the captive giant pandas for the students.
Tires, swings, slides, hammocks......
Giant panda Fengrong does this
"Students, when you were in kindergarten, did you have a lot of toys in the kindergarten? In the process of playing with toys, do you feel particularly happy, and there is a kind of fun to explore? The same goes for giant pandas. In order to help students understand the professional concept of "abundance", Dr. Yin started with the students' life experience and popularized science for everyone.
"Is the panda having a tea party?" "Are they scalding Jiugongge hot pot?" "Can they eat spicy?" In class, the students were very interested in the photos of the giant pandas shown by Dr. Yin, and raised their hands to ask questions.
It is understood that Fengrong is a zoo term, which refers to a series of measures taken in captivity to enrich the life of wild animals, meet the physiological and psychological needs of animals, and promote the display of more natural behaviors. This includes relieving boredom by constructing and changing the living environment of animals, allowing animals to exhibit normal behavior, and providing more opportunities for animals to choose, which is an important technical work to improve animal welfare.
According to Dr. Yin, Chongqing Zoo's giant panda enrichment facilities include: tires, swings, slides, hammocks, etc., which seem simple to be put into use after careful production and strict cleaning and disinfection.
The story incorporates the knowledge of giant pandas
"Little Panda Ambassadors" get to know the giant panda in a comprehensive way
"After the fourth giant panda 'population census', wild giant pandas are distributed in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places, with a population of 1,864 individuals." In the class, Dr. Yin also revealed that by the end of 2023, there are 728 giant pandas in captivity, and Chongqing Zoo is the largest number of giant pandas in captivity among urban zoos in China.
"Because giant pandas can only digest and absorb the leachate in the cells of the food they eat, as well as some hemicellulose, the digestion and utilization rate of bamboo nutrients is very low. Therefore, it must eat a large amount of fresh bamboo every day to meet its nutritional needs. During the explanation, Dr. Yin shared with the students the living environment, companion animals, farrowing conditions, and nutritional feed of giant pandas, and integrated panda knowledge into them through storytelling, so that the students could re-understand the national treasure giant panda.
After the class, Cao Fanqiao, a "Little Panda Ambassador", said: "I am most interested in panda Fengrong, and I know that pandas will eat 'Jiugongge hot pot' together. It was a feast prepared by the keepers for them, including sweet apples, carrots, dragon fruits, bamboo shoots, etc., which pandas love to eat. Through the class, I also learned that giant pandas use their keen sense of smell to choose their favorite food. ”
Other "Little Panda Ambassadors" also said, "Through Dr. Yin's explanation, I finally know why giant pandas are always eating bamboo." "When you go to the zoo during the summer vacation, you must have a good look at the giant panda Fengrong." "As a 'Little Panda Ambassador', I will definitely learn more about giant pandas, and share the knowledge of giant pandas with friends, so that more people can understand giant pandas, fall in love with giant pandas, and do their part to protect giant pandas together."