It has been a little over two weeks since stepping foot onto Chinese soil and so far it has been one amazing experience.
The intern that has been at the Panda Base for over two months now, Amelie, greeted me in Chengdu and we made our way to Ya’an, home for the next three months. Within the two weeks overlap that Amelie and I had, she showed me around the base, the individual pandas, the Chinese staff, the different studies and most of all Ya’an. We covered a lot in the little time that we had together. By the time I went solo I was confident in carrying on the work that Amelie has done thus far.
My main job is to track all the pregnancies, births and maternal care of the female pandas at the base. When a baby is 30 days of age I do a maternal observation on the interaction between mother and baby. These take two hours and can be testing at times. However, any time where I get to watch a 30-day-old baby panda with their mum is amazing. The cuteness is just unbearable sometimes.
Xi Xi and her baby during a maternal observation
Other studies that I am continuing include the stereotypical study and the personality study. The stereotypical study is observing a panda for 1 hour and noting down any stereotypical behaviours. This includes pacing, quasi-pacing, tongue flicking, swaying, weaving, cage climbing etc. The personality study is a lot of fun. I place objects (either a basketball, bowl of water with fruit, ice block, or ice block with food inside) into their cage and observe their behaviour for 1 hour. This can be very unpredictable sometimes. The known “aggressive” panda on base Hui Hui destroyed the basketball and the metal bowl within two observations on consecutive days. Pandas can be very cute, but when you see them play aggressively with an object you are quickly reminded that these beautiful creatures are bears. Bears with very large claws and very sharp teeth.
Hui Hui with the bowl of water and fruit
Amelie and I had a great time exploring Ya’an and part of the Sichuan province. One weekend we headed to Mount Emie. Towering 10,000 feet above sea level this mountain is home to numerous temples, waterfalls, monkeys, and of course the Golden Summit. The day wasn’t the best for viewing but being two goofy girls we definitely made the most of our time on top of this beautiful site. On the way to Mount Emie we took a quick detour to Leshan Dafo, the “big Buddha”. He was absolutely breath taking. Cuddled between two cliffs that cascaded green trees and overlooked the city of Emieshan, not even the pushing and overcrowding of tourists could spoil the moment.
Me at the Big Buddha
It has only been a few days since Amelie left and I’m finding I’m getting along with the study quite well. You can never get bored of a job where you get to watch pandas all day.
-Grace
