Lifelong bond with pandas: from Sichuan mountains to San Diego Zoo

On Tuesday, two pandas on loan from China, Yun Chuan, a nearly 5-year-old male, and Xin Bao, a nearly 4-year-old female, made their public debut at San Diego Zoo in the U.S., quietly enjoying a sunbath and focusing on their favorite food in front of tourists. Since the pair's arrival on June 27 from China, wildlife teams from both China and the U.S. have been working to cater to the pandas' dietary needs with bamboo and traditional Chinese panda bread.

The story of the fluffy pair is part of a larger narrative—a tale of international cooperation and a shared future. According to China's Foreign Ministry and the zoo officials, the ultimate goal of the collaboration between the two countries is the conservation of wild giant pandas, rearing, breeding, disease prevention, and endangered wildlife and biodiversity conservation.

Over the decades, China has implemented numerous measures to protect giant pandas and their habitats, leading to a remarkable increase in the wild giant panda population from around 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 today. Such success is recognized globally, including by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which reclassified the giant panda from "endangered" to "vulnerable" in acknowledgment of these efforts.

The home front: legacy of panda experts

Halfway across the globe in Sichuan Province of southwest China, in a small studio within the College of Life Sciences of China West Normal University (CWNU), many have sat on a small sofa to chat with Hu Jinchu, China's foremost expert in giant panda research and conservation. Known as a "giant panda database," Hu's extensive knowledge and ability allow him to answer almost any question related to pandas. Hu believes that to excel in biological sciences, one must "read nature," which he describes as a book without words.

In 1984, he began mentoring graduate students, with Wei Fuwen, now a renowned Chinese conservation biologist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, being his first. 

Wei recalled the first time Hu led students to field research. "Not only was there no giant panda, but the bites of mosquitoes, leeches, and grass ticks were often annoying. We always had to be on guard against attacks from takin and cauliflower iron-headed snakes," Wei said. Hu, nearly 60 years old at that time, spent days with students collecting specimens, identifying animal traces, returning to camp, and then working on finishing notes. 

Teaching and research became Hu's biggest career focus for the rest of his life. "We have the only habitat in the world," he said. "If we can't do scientific research, we can't be accountable to anyone." 

At the critical juncture of scientific research, Hu, even at 80 years old, still chose to climb mountains, enter the forest, and live in a shack because only in this way could he gather the most real and frontline data. Under the leadership of Hu Jinchu, generations of giant panda researchers have come to the fore, and scored numerous achievements in giant panda research. Until his retirement, Wu had trained nearly 20 graduate students. Most of them have become the bearers of the giant panda research community. 

Hu's passing in February last year was met with heartfelt tributes from his students. They remembered his advice, "Life is short, choose what you love," and his stories, such as being chased by giant pandas in the Wolong Giant Panda Observatory.

Educating the next generation

For decades, the level of giant panda protection and breeding in Sichuan Province has continually improved, and the threat level of giant pandas has been downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable," Li Tianman, director of the Sichuan Provincial Administration of the Giant Panda National Park, said.

This commitment to conservation is also reflected in education. In July, CWNU announced the enrollment of the national first-class undergraduates into its newly-established "Wildlife and Nature Reserve Management" program. This major, part of the newly established Giant Panda College, focuses on constructing and developing protected areas, with giant pandas serving as the flagship species. 

The university organized China's first nationwide field survey and research of giant pandas, established the world's first giant panda field ecological observation station, and facilitated China's first international wildlife protection cooperation. 

These efforts have earned the university the nickname "Panda University," producing notable experts in the field, including "Father of China's giant panda" Hu Jinchu and "Panda Academician" Wei Fuwen, among others.

Far beyond its border

In terms of international cooperation, China has collaborated with 26 institutions from 20 countries in giant panda conservation research since the 1990s.

The United States was one of the earliest countries to join China's giant panda conservation efforts. Over more than half a century, this collaboration has significantly boosted the wild giant panda population, Dr. Sun Quanhui, a scientist from World Animal Protection, said to CGTN, highlighting the crucial role of this partnership in ecological conservation and as a model for cooperation in areas like climate change and sustainable development.

In 1996, San Diego Zoo began its giant panda collaboration with the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda, welcoming "Bai Yun" and "Shi Shi" as the first pair of giant pandas to reside there.

Over the next 23 years, the two sides engaged in extensive cooperation and exchange in various fields, including wild giant panda ecology, behavior, genetic structure, monitoring technology, artificial breeding, disease prevention and control, nutrition, research on associated species, and public education, jointly tackling a series of technical challenges, making significant discoveries in key areas such as giant panda breeding, habitat protection, and supplementary nutrition. This collaboration also trained a group of outstanding professionals, effectively enhancing the scientific research level of giant panda conservation.

Currently, China has engaged in giant panda cooperation and exchanges with 20 countries, with research spanning areas such as breeding, diseases, behavior, evolution, habitat protection, and public education.

This international cooperation has significantly advanced the conservation of giant pandas in the wild, trained a group of highly skilled professionals in breeding, medical care, and scientific research, and increased public awareness in other countries about the protection of endangered wildlife like the giant panda, Sun said. 

As of the end of 2023, there are 20 institutions from 18 countries, including Japan, the U.S., France, Singapore and Russia, participating in cooperative research on giant panda conservation with China. The total number of giant pandas living abroad is 56, according to China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration.