Panda Research Centre

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The number of high rise apartment blocks under construction in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan with a population of 10 million, and it's outskirts is mind-boggling. The fact that many completed blocks remain empty does not seem to be slowing down the construction. Keith and Doug counted over 100 cranes in a 30 minute road trip. We were told that young people cannot afford the apartments and, even if they could, wouldn't want to live in the ugly forests of tall buildings because they are too far from their work.

We spent a fun morning at the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Centre that currently houses 132 giant pandas, both to study them and also to increase the panda population. We were told that this is a challenge because pandas tend to be sedentary and only have about five days each year when they can summon up enough interest to mate, and then only if their potential mate has the right chemistry. The centre staff resolve this issue by helping things along and used to obtain semen to fertilize the mature females by electrical stimulation. Apparently this didn’t go down well with the males so they now use ‘massage’.

The newborn are very small and look like mewling hairless rats. Pandas quite often give birth to twins and in the wild will choose only one, presumably the strongest, to raise. At the centre, staff make sure both twins survive by alternating feedings from the mother with bottles of formula. Some of the pandas are not very good mothers. In a movie, we saw one batting her newborn around on the floor. Another picked hers up very gently in her mouth and lowered it into her arms and, presumably, onto her teat.

By the time they are adults, the white fur looks more of a honey colour but the young ones are very white (and black), and fluffy. Movements are pigeon-toed, slow, and ungainly, and we were surprised to see that they could climb trees. The adults tend to conserve energy because they only absorb about 20 percent of the nutrients from the 40 kg of bamboo they crunch their way through each day, peeling off the hard outer layer first with their teeth. However the young ones were busy chivying each other and climbing cautiously and unsteadily, rather like human babies learning to stand and climb.

The centre also has red pandas but they weren’t nearly as much fun to watch.

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Photos

Giant Panda
Relaxing after a hard day at the office

Giant Panda
An efficient climber at 9 months. Take note Charlie

Giant Panda
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

Red Panda
Other Red Pandas thing I'm cute!

Comments

[Sandy Haggins]

Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday Frances. I'm enjoying your blog entries about your trip. It sounds quite interesting and I'm sure you and Keith will have many stories to tell when you return.