Daxiangling Releasing Base: The rewilding and releasing process was smooth and the three giant pandas adapt it well

SICHUAN, China, Dec. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The reporter has learned from the Xingjing Area of Sichuan Giant Panda National Park recently that the releasing status of giant pandas "Heyu", "Xingchen" and "Qianqian" in Daxiangling Releasing Base is sound.

The above mentioned three giant pandas as objects of rewilding have shown similar characteristics regarding the activity pattern to those of wild ones at the moment.

It integrates rewilding training and adaptation before releasing together. With a total construction area of 4639 square meters, Daxiangling Releasing Base is divided into two parts, namely 1. office buildings and living areas and 2. rewilding adaptation areas. It is now the largest rewilding and training base for giant pandas in the world. The rewilding adaptation areas cover an area of 3000 Mu, including sheds, rewilding and training grounds and rewilding adaptation folds for giant pandas. "It integrates rewilding training and adaptation before releasing together, and can meet the needs of transitional training of the rewilding and releasing for 4 giant pandas and of adaptive training of the rewilding and releasing for 2 giant pandas at the same time," said Fu Mingxia, a staff at the Main Management and Protection Station in the Xingjing County for the Giant Panda National Park. Here is an ideal habitat for giant pandas. Located in the Macaohe Area of Daxiangling Provincial Nature Reserve, Sichuan, it is the core distribution area of the giant panda population in the Daxiangling mountains. With an elevation of 1998-2500 meters above sea level, it has abundant water sources, rich vegetation types and rather complex mountainous landscapes. There is the staple food of giant pandas, such as Chimonobambusa szechuanensls and Arundinaria faberi. Scientific researchers have also trained individual giant pandas through rewilding training folds in order to release them later and improve the genetic unity of wild giant pandas in Daxiangling so that the rejuvenation of their population could be encouraged and their extinction could be avoided.

Cross-regional activities of giant pandas have increased significantly. Usually, there is snow in the releasing base from the end of November to the end of March of the next year, so that the mountains are under snow closure at this time. Thus, March-June and September-November are valuable field monitoring periods for scientific research and monitoring staffs. The team members perform arduous field monitoring work during this period constantly. In respect of the releasing giant pandas, they will carry out in the early stage a comprehensive and detailed investigation, then monitor the survival status of giant pandas after the releasing, so as to ensure the timely collection of scientific research data and guarantee the survival safety of giant pandas in the wild. Secondly, they are also engaged in the key task of habitat restoration and ecological corridor construction. An ecological corridor for giant pandas in Niba Mountain is established through vegetation restoration and habitat reconstruction in order to strengthen the gene exchange between local populations of giant pandas in the Daxiangling Mountains and Qionglai Mountains. At the moment, 3000 Mu of habitat in this area has been reconstructed. The staff have monitored and discovered traces of the activities of the mother giant panda and her cubs. It means that cross-regional panda activities have increased significantly.

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