Panda News from around the world
  • New Panda Cub at Chengdu

    I have had a report that Da Shuan at Chengdu Research Centre had a little girl on 28th September 2009.

    I was waiting for the official announcement but nothing so far.

    The source of the report is vary reliable, so I've decided to post the good news.

    Well done to Da Shuan, and all the staff at Chengdu.
  • Eclipse at chengdu base

    Some photos of the eclipse at Chengdu Giant Panda Research base.
  • Jackie Chan Adopts 2 pandas

    Jackie Chan the famous film star has adopted two pandas from the Chengdu Research Centre. He named them "Cheng Cheng" and "Long Long" for a reported cost of 1 million yuan. (~£100,000 - ~$147,000).

    Jackie was appointed "Chengdu Panda Ambassador" by the Chengdu tourism authorities.

    It is also reported than Jackie plans to accept donations through his fan club for the pandas.
  • Cat found dead in a pandas playground

    A feral cat was found dead in the playground of Cheng Gong, a panda at Chengdu Zoo. It seems that the cat had invaded the pandas territory and the panda had protected it's grounds.

    The cat was found by keeper Yang Cheng in the afternoon of May 3rd, it appeared to of been bitten to death by the panda. It appears that Cheng Gong had not eaten any the cat and was just defending it's territory.

    "The giant panda has a strong sense of territoriality. Either captive or wild pandas will defend their territory from intruders.” said Yang Cheng the pandas keeper.
  • Yuan Yuan Messing about in water

    I'll just let the photos do the talking.
  • Interview with a panda expert

    The Chengdu Panda Base has a blog entry about an interview one of their leading members of staff had with the China News Service.

    Follow the reference to read it.
  • Thanks Tourism around China

    On March 1st 2009 two teams from CCRCGP Wolong Base left from Chengdu TV station on a journey to thank the cities who took in 26 Giant Pandas from The Wolong Panda base after the terrible earthquake of May 12th 2008, left the base devastated, one giant panda dead and one missing, and 5 members of the reserve dead.

    53 Giant pandas were taken to Bifengxia their sister centre which was opened in 2003 to hold the extra pandas that Wolong bred. 26 Pandas were taken to 8 different cites around China and seven stayed at Wolong.
  • Railway construction diverted around panda habtat.

    Experts are recommending that a new railway between Chengdu and Lanzhou, take a more expensive route to minimise the effects it will have on pandas.
  • Pandas visited by Arabian Delegation

    Yesterday morning, Arabian delegates to China visited the Base to see China’s national treasure, the giant panda, accompanied by associated personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the afternoon, they went to Sanxingdui Museum and Jinli Street.
  • Tourists numbers back up after Quake.

    After the devastating earth quake on May 12th, Tourists to Wolong and Chengdu Research Centres fell. Whilst Wolong has been pretty much destroyed and will take some time before it is fully functional again Chengdu is reporting that tourists are returning and numbers are about the same as last year.

    October is the golden month in the Base’s annual tourism season. During the 7-day national holiday (this year from September 29 to October 5), about 31,822 tourists from home and abroad visited the Base, engaging in an exploration of the panda’s life and its survival secrets.
  • New pandas at Bifengxia

    Whilst I was working in the base news came through that two more pandas had been born.

    Another pair of cubs was born in Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on September 2 morning! The births have increased the Base's number of captive bread pandas to 82.

    This time it's the five- year old prototype panda of the "Fuwa" Jingjing, one of the Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, become the mother.

    The panda named "Kangkang" (also "Fuwa") delivered a twins respectively on the night of Sep. 1 and the morning of Sep. 2.
  • Seaworld donate to help the pandas

    SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have given $10,000 to the Chengdu Panda Research Centre to help with efforts after the quake on May 12th.
  • Chengdu Torch Relay Day Welcomes the Birth of Giant Panda Twins

    August 5, 2008 was a festive day when the Olympic torch “Lucky Cloud” began the Chengdu leg of the relay. Adding to the festivity and celebration was the birth of a set of giant panda twins delivered at the Chengdu base.
  • More Babies

    2 more baby pandas, born on August 10th 2008, at Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center, Bringing the total to 8 for the base this year.

    It seems that the pair have already been named after two of the mascots of the Olympic Games, Huan Huan and Bei Bei.
  • Picture of panda on rocking horse

    The sun (Uk newspaper) has a wonderful picture of a panda playing on a childs playground equipment. The story is about the low numbers of visitors going to Chengdu Zoo.
  • Mistaken Chengdu identity slows tourism

    The May 12th quake caused massive destruction at the Wolong Panda Breeding Centre and has had to close to visitors and evacuate most of its pandas. Meanwhile the Panda Centre at Chengdu which was not affected by the quake has seen massive reductions in the number of visitors, which is starting to cause financial problems as its sole income is from the money taken at its gates.
  • Wolong reserve.

    The forests around Wolong are home to approximately 150 wild pandas. The forests have been badly destroyed in the quake and resulting landslides, the Chinese Forestry Commission reports that as much as 80% of the forests have been flattened, which will cause problems for the wild pandas in obtaining enough food. It is thought that 2 / 3 of the wild pandas will die or have died. The mud slides have caused large areas of land to be unreachable by researchers and pandas.