Giant panda coping well before releasing (Reuters) Updated: 2006-07-10 15:13
China's first captive-bred giant panda to be released into the wild has been
coping well in bamboo forests in the country's southwest, state media said on
Monday.
The April release of Xiang Xiang, a four-year-old male, came after nearly
three years of training to toughen him up at a research institute in the
mountainous province of Sichuan.
"Through surveillance we found out that Xiang Xiang had gradually adapted to
the wild environment," said Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong Giant Panda
Protection and Research Center.
"We have also detected other wild pandas in the area, which means Xiang Xiang
is being integrated into a wild population," Zhang told CCTV state television.
Researchers fitted a global positioning system (GPS) device around the
animal's neck to monitor his activities, CCTV said.
They would study his choice of territory, his meals and waste, but would
strictly avoid direct contact so as to help him completely shake off dependence
on humans, the report said.
The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered and exotic species and
is found only in China. An estimated 1,500 wild pandas live in Sichuan, Gansu
and Shaanxi provinces.
State media said China had also raised about 180 giant pandas in captive
breeding programs and spent $12.5 million since 2003 training them for release
into the wild. Some experts, though, are guarded about their prospects, citing a
number of unknowns.
Surveillance of Xiang Xiang will continue until 2008 when the GPS hoop drops
automatically after its battery runs out, Zhang said. "By then, our Xiang Xiang
will have become a real wild panda."
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