Having just returned from my month long stay in China, there seems to be no rest for the weary. With our reintroduction and weaning research opening up in Gengda in August, we are frantically putting together all of the pieces. In order to ensure a smooth transition, we decided to hire a previous intern- Zachary David, to assist in training the incoming weaning interns, who will arrive in October. As Gengda kicks off and we get all of the new interns up to speed, we will break off and travel to Ya’an to bring on another three interns for our Bifengxia studies.

Normally, we can arrive into Chengdu and simply pickup all of the “newbies” and immediately begin training. However, Gengda is a new location for us and we need to setup our protocols, make adjustments to our materials and methods, and outfit two new apartments that will house all of the staff. To prepare for each of these items, you try to think of every single scenario that might take place and either purchase the material and supplies, or make the adjustment to your study design. Time is usually our greatest ally in solidifying how we will go about collecting data, but the apartments can present some tough hurdles. Due to the fact that Gengda is not a sprawling metropolis, but more of a small town that lacks any shops bigger than a quickie mart, purchasing goods is not an option. This means that we need to bring everything with us from the states. Thank goodness for Amazon.com.

At the last count, we are now up to seven full-sized roller bags stuffed to the breaking point with- batteries, camera traps, security boxes, sheets, pillows, blankets, gloves, wipes, memory cards, waterproof cases, tools, pots, pans, utensils, chargers, computers, iPads, cords, towels, and clothing. The shopping list was quite huge, but this gave me a good project to tackle while battling my return jet-lag. Now that we are loaded up with all the required goods, Meghan and I are frantically catching up on our analyses and scientific publications. Of which, we just submitted a review article on how mate choice can improve the sustainability of captive populations. Another exciting publication that we are submitting is on Giant Panda insemination success rates at the CCRCGP over the last 21 years. Last but certainly not least are the conclusions to our lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) studies. As the lead (Pb) study is 100% complete, we expect this to be published in the next few months.

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We are your PDXWildlife Panda Team- Nathan & Meghan. We’d love to hear from you, so if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment below. PDXWildlife is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, and as such, all donations are 100% tax-deductible and go entirely to continuing our research on Giant Pandas. Click HERE to be directed to our secure donation page.