Becoming Panda Keepers
Today we really got to work with the pandas. Yesterday the 12 Pambassadors we were divided into smaller groups, which would make it easier to work. My group (Ashley from the United States of America, Annie-Danielle from Canada, Ylenia from Italy, Cici from China & me, Jeroen from Belgium) started in the Panda Kitchen. They were going to teach us how to make Panda Cakes. A huge amount of video cameras followed our first working day at the Base. Chinese CCTV was broadcasting this live and lots of other Chinese and International TV channels were filming us. When we left our Panda Cakes in the steamer, we learned how to clean bamboo. After one hour our Cakes were steamed, so the pandas would be able to eat them later that day. This was fun, but also hard work. I would like to thank all Panda Keepers of the world, for doing this every day! Before lunch we received some Biological information about the giant panda.
In the afternoon we got to work as panda keepers at the Moon Nursery. Our small group again was divided in smaller groups. I worked with Ashley from the United States. I think she is definitely one of the Top Candidates to become one of the 6 Pambassadors… American TV-stations ABC & CBS were covering her story. We had to take care of pandas Wu Yi (male, born August 7, 2006, studbook number 630) and Ya Zi (female, born August 19, 2006, studbook number 637). Wu Yi & Ya Zi went inside, so we could clean the outside yard. After we had cleaned the enclosure, we got to place some bamboo in the yard. Since we both love to see pandas climb, we put it on the climbing structure and in the trees hoping that the pandas would get it. When Wu Yi & Ya Zi came out they got on the climbing structure and ate our bamboo sticks, this was so cool! After they finished it, we could feed them apples and the panda cakes we made earlier that day. We did this with a hughe bamboo stick from a keeper bridge next to the enclosure. It was so special, really another once-in-a-lifetime-experience… CCTV broadcasted our adventure.
In the late afternoon we went to the WWF Chengdu headquarters. The 12 Pambassadors received lots of gifts from WWF China and we got information about the wild pandas in Sichuan, Shaanxi & Gansu Provinces.
Tomorrow we will go to Panda Valley in Du Jiang Yan, the new and groundbreaking panda field research center… Grtz Pambassador Jeroen Jacobs
