Working with Pandas

---

Working with Pandas these last days has been one of the most incredible experiences ever. The Chinese name for Panda is ‘Xiaong Mao’ (literally meaning Bear Cat) – and indeed they look like a mixture between a bear and a cat. At first I thought it was nonsense, surely they look nothing like cats! But after closely working next to them I can confirm they have lots of movements similar to cats; it’s something about the face expressions and the shape of the face (especially the female’s, more oval than male’s). They also look like people – yes, you heard right. They are bears and move like bears but everything else seems like there is a person sitting there, eating bamboo cake, dressed as a Panda! Their eyes, the way they just sit with their backs on something, the way they grab things with their HANDS (because honestly, they don’t even seem paws – with those 6 fingers, they used to have 5 but evolved to have a 6th one that helps them hold things) and just munch on food like any random person... it’s all just so... human! You could look at them for hours and never get bored. They are the cutest and most adorable animals I have seen. Bi Fen Xia Panda Base, 25 minutes by car from Ya’an (3 hours from Chengdu) is the base where we have been working as ‘keepers’ with around 4 Pandas per day. We arrived full of energy and excitement at the prospect of interacting with Pandas. Although the accommodation was disappointing (I don’t mind basic but I do mind staying in a dirty and cold place) the surroundings were indeed beautiful. Marvellous green jungle/forest background; enhanced and freshened by the constant rain (apparently in this area, it rains 360 days a year). We are told we will be helping one of the master keepers and we will be in a team of three. Our friend Max (later renamed ‘Mad Max’ for the hilarious stories he narrates of his adventures as journalist-writer-traveller) will be in our team and we will be based in the ‘White Bear’ part of the reserve. It’s where they keep the 2 Pandas which will be travelling to Scotland on loan sometime next year (called ‘Sweet’ and ‘Sunshine’ by the way) – I fell in love with Sweet right away, she’s so slow and clumsy, just like me hehe! Our master keeper is a 30 year old guy who’s been working here for 7 years. He tells us to call him Mr Strong which I find hilarious! Apparently ‘Strong’ is what his name means. Mr Strong became a friend and an excellent guide to us these days. He cracks up at M’s jokes and impersonations, he tells us stories about the area and the Pandas, always trying hard to speak English which is not common here; not all keepers can communicate in another language. Isabella, our guide, tells us the Panda base land used to belong to farmers and when the Government bought it, they gave jobs to the farmers’ families. I am not sure if Mr Strong’s father is a farmer, but for sure he knows a lot about Pandas and breeding. He’s been to university and has worked in the lab doing research. However he says that was boring and I think he’s happy to be out and about with the Pandas. He tells us how they work on Panda breeding. IVF is essential to ensure female Pandas falling pregnant. Breeding is not easy, female Pandas are very picky when it comes to choosing a partner and to make things worse, the male’s penis is too short so sometimes they need ‘extra help’ to be successful! We got to see a baby Panda, through a window though, as we weren’t allowed to touch or feed it (however, if you pay extra, it’s possible – it seems that they’re making a fortune from Japanese tourists!) – the baby looked unreal, so cute. Mr Strong explains in the base they take care of around 70 Pandas and they undertake research on how to help them breed, and how to release them into the wild. For this purpose they have specific areas where they release Pandas and observe their actions. A male Panda was released once in the hope it would take care of itself. Unfortunately, the ‘domesticated’ Panda encountered a ‘wild’ Panda and the latter killed the first one. They can teach them how to climb (all enclosures have wooden cabins where Pandas climb and sleep) but they can’t teach them how to fight. Currently, they’ve sent a female Panda into the wild and are watching her movements closely. The Pandas in the base don’t walk around free – each has its own cage, opened to a very large enclosed natural area. Each Panda has its own area, which although limited, certainly seems like part of the forests around us. Obviously they’re not free but they are as free as they can be. And they seem very comfortable. Watching them climb to the tallest possible tree and just hang from a branch (yes, it supports the Panda’s weight!) whilst sleeping is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Our job was to feed them as much as 4 times a day and clean their cages in the morning. Each Panda eats around 45 kilos per day. Mostly bamboo (they like plain bamboo or bamboo cake – made of flour, eggs and chopped bamboo) but also apples, carrots and milk for the little ones. When we clean the cages the first day, it seems they’ve left all the bamboo from the day before. But Mr Strong tells us each Panda can only digest about 20 % of the bamboo it eats. Therefore it needs to eat as much as possible and it needs the best. They bring bamboo from other areas (Taiwan bamboo is much better, they tell us!) and have found ways, such as bamboo cake, to offer it to the Pandas in as much a variety as possible. Obviously, wild Pandas have no one cooking bamboo cake for them, so they will be slimmer and faster. They also move more in order to find food. But apart from these facts, both wild and domesticated Pandas spend their days the same way: eating and sleeping. In the mornings, Mr Strong calls their names and they come, just like dogs! They totally recognise their ‘given’ names and walk into the cage, docile as sheeps, to get their morning ration of cake. They sit down and hold the bars, looking straight at you as if saying: ‘hurry up! I’m hungry!’ Meanwhile, we clean the bamboo left from yesterday from outside and bring some fresh stock. We also clean (excuse my language) all their poo poo. There is lots and lots but believe me – it’s not so bad to clean this. It’s like cleaning plants! If you think about it, it’s all they eat so it is not so disgusting to clean. Mr Strong explains they have a scale where they weigh Pandas every so often. He says it’s very important to give Pandas the right amount of each thing. If they have too much cake and apples and carrots they will get tummy aches and digestive problems. It is vital that they eat bamboo leaves (fact: they like smaller leaves and bamboo shoots – which they peel amazingly fast!) or their health will suffer. They also give them fresh water every day, and of course everything is extremely clean. In fact they live better than us at our hostel!! Pandas were carnivore in origin but for some reason now they are vegetarian. To be honest it was not easy to understand everything Mr Strong said, but it was great fun to meet him and learn so much from him. Mental note about volunteer projects; certainly the best thing about it all was meeting and making new friends: Chloe, Max, Amanda and Dean, Dennis, Lynn and Shan, our guides Tina and Isabella, Mr Strong etc. However, discovering that volunteers are not really needed around was a bit of a let-down. Our keeper explained that each of them is paid an amount per person to ‘accept’ volunteers. Most keepers don’t want it as they get paid very little and they have to take care of groups of people who know not what they’re doing and distract them from their daily chores. It seems a keeper forgot to close a door at one point whilst working with a volunteer and a Panda escaped. He lost money from his salary (these people earn around 1.500 RMB a month, which is around 150 GBP) and from then on keepers are not keen on ‘teaching’ volunteers. There were many volunteers around: some are there for 2 weeks, some for 2 months, and some for a day. But truly, help is not needed. Cleaning and feeds is done fast, and between chores there are hours with nothing to do. Also, one is not allowed to directly feed animals or touch them. So you can only clean cages and cut their bamboo cake, then watch the keeper do everything else. I had the impression that we were a bit of a burden to them, we distract them for their duties, we ask them questions, they have to show us around like guides which they’re not. Only one conclusion can be drawn: they do it for money, which I understand, but they don’t really need physical help. It led me to think that although we’d travelled to the base thinking our time and efforts were needed, it is only our economical contribution they really need. It seems like they are making quite a lot of money, not just from volunteer contributions, but from tourists paying to take pictures ‘holding’ a Panda (5-10 pics for 500 RMB) or feeding and playing with a baby Panda (1000 and 1500 RMB – quite a lot!). The Government owns the place but as any public sector owned business, it needs private fundraising too. And so it gets it. I wish they would pay the keepers more, as they’re all as knowledgeable, attentive and open-minded as Mr Strong, they surely deserve to be paid much more for taking care of the national treasure (as Mad Max called it)! – we had a great time joking with him and taking funny pictures and we’ve made some great friends which we won’t forget. I think the human side of these experiences is what stays with you, and that is how we will remember it. To me, meeting Isabella (if you ever come to China let us know, this woman is the best!) was one of the best things. ‘Old Teacher’ (as her students call her) is the nicest and most educated Chinese person I’ve come across up to now. She organised for us to try the famous Sichuan ‘Hot Pot’ (similar to Japanese sabu sabu but spicy!), for us to learn how to cook dumplings (mental note: they need to be small or else they won’t steam well) and taught us lots of interesting things about China. For example, thanks to her I know that that every time they use ‘ma’ in a sentence it’s a question (Ni hao ma? = how are you?). I also learned there are 4 accents in Chinese and many meanings for the same word. We talked about the one-child policy; when Isabella was born, this was not in place yet. She had a brother and a sister, but now they are all grown ups and have just one child each. She thinks this is not great as firstly, an only child may be more selfish or spoilt (I know some people will disagree!) and also, when it comes to taking care of the elders (as it’s tradition) how will one grandson deal with 4 grandparents?? It makes sense. We also discuss Communism briefly. Isabella’s father misses the times when Chairman Mao was in charge: he feels everything was better as one didn’t have to worry about being successful at work, since all people were equals and all were the same. They all shared, no one had less or more. It was the time of collectivism. Isabella thinks the current times are also good: if you work more or are more successful, you have more. There is competition but also an opportunity for each person to rise above and succeed; a chance to be better, to have more. China is changing! (hopefully it will change further and allow us to log on to pages like Facebook or The Pirate Bay!). She made the whole trip and experience much more enjoyable and we hope she will be a friend for a long time.
Now it’s time to head to Beijing. Not part of the plan originally but we’ve decided to see it: Forbidden Palace and Great Wall are not something we should ignore! We will be telling you more about the city that used to be called PEKIN soon.
Thanks for reading us,
B & M

---