Entering Chengdu Panda Valley: A New Era in Giant Panda Conservation
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding was established with 6 wild pandas. Now, they have a population of 108 pandas and 6 captive born pandas will move to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Dujiangyan Field Research Center for Giant Pandas.
Dr. Zhang Zhihe, director of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding held a press conference in Beijing on December 21, 2011 were he announced that the first 6 pandas will move to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Dujiangyan Field Research Center for Giant Pandas on January 11, 2012.
It took panda experts more than 50 years to reach this level of knowledge about captive pandas and panda breeding. Experts expect that it will take them again 50 years, or even longer, to become experts in panda introduction.
The Chengdu Zoo was the first Chinese zoo that started to house giant pandas. A wild panda was discovered near Dujiangyan in January 1953 and it moved to the Chengdu Zoo. In 1987 the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding was established from the zoo with 6 pandas. The new Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Dujiangyan Field Research Center for Giant Pandas (short: Panda Valley) was build on the location were the wild panda was discovered in 1953.
The first 6 pandas that will move to Panda Valley have started to receive some preparation training. Panda experts from the Chengdu Panda Base have followed these 6 pandas very close for the past year and it was a difficult decision to choose these pandas. They followed their evolution, health, genetic background and many more subjects, to choose these pandas wisely.
The 6 pandas that will be the ‘founders’ of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Dujiangyan Field Research Center for Giant Pandas are:
Xing Rong & Xing Ya (female twins) were born on August 13, 2007. Their mother is Eryatou.
Gong Zi (male) was born on July 26, 2008. His mother is Cheng Gong.
Ying Ying (male) was born on August 23, 2010. His mother is Cheng Ji
Zhi Zhi (female) was born on August 23, 2009. Her mother is Yalaoer.
Qi Qi (female) was born on September 28, 2009. Her mother is Da Shuang.
The pandas will move to the first ‘experimental’ area of Panda Valley. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Dujiangyan Field Research Center for Giant Pandas is divided into three parts: the experimental area, semi-wild reintroduction area and reintroduction area.
The center is located in Majiagou, Yutang Town, with a total area of 2004 mu and a total investment of RMB 300 million. In later stages it will be home to 30 to 40 giant pandas, 50 to 100 red pandas, and other wild animals.
Source: Chengdu Panda Base
