The Giant Panda Breeding Institute In Chengdu
What would a trip to the Chengdu area be without a visit to the Giant Panda Breeding Institute to see those adorable Pandas? Suggestion: Go early in the morning because after snarfing down piles of bamboo, the Pandas go into a food-coma (just like us) and sleep for hours.
The Giant Panda Breeding Institute doesn't open until 9:00 a.m. and off we went. It took over an hour to get through all the traffic. People make left turns through red lights, drive through red lights, go into opposing traffic to get around each other...and then there are bicycles and scooters going in all directions. Nervewracking. At first I thought, swell...this is just going to be like going to a zoo...then we'll see two Pandas and leave... How very wrong could one person be. One of the most fantastic experiences of our lives. The Institute's grounds are huge and spread over many acres. Left the car in the parking lot (thankfully, without too many tour buses yet) and started walking into the grounds, heading directly for the Panda enclosures.
So very many Panda facts:
- They use DNA fingerprinting to conduct paternity on Pandas.
- Kindergarden contained one-year old Pandas.
- The newest baby in the nursery was born 7/3/07. A newborn is basically a premature infant without any hair and sort of looked like a rat. There were at least 5-6 incubators and baby pandas in them, including a one-month old set of twin pandas. It is impossible to describe how little and cute these babies were.
- Pandas only have 1-2 cubs in each litter with twins born 45% of the time. In the wild, Panda mothers can only care for one baby so the other will die.
- After mating, Pandas separate and lead solitary lives staking out their own territory. Because of this, they have trouble finding each other to mate. One of the reasons they are so endangered. The Institute primarily uses artificial insemination.
- In the wild, Pandas live in grottos or tree hollows at an altitude of 2,000-3,000m/6,500-9,800'. Like to live next to streams for drinking water. Eat about 22 kilos/48 pounds a day. If they eat bamboo shoots, 40 kilos/88 pounds; if eat stems 17 kilos/37 pounds; if eat leaves and branches 10-14 kilos/22-30 pounds. They are carnivorous but live on bamboo and eat 16 out of every 24 hours.
and last statistic...
- Pandas like to climb trees to escape danger, enjoy the sun and play.
Each habitat was spacious and the Giant Pandas were separated by age in each. The Giant Panda Kindergarten with 1 year olds was the most interesting area to just stand and watch the one-years old interact.
Visitors can also have their photo taken with a Giant Panda but the line was too long for us to wait around.
As we continued walking around the Institute, there were signs directing to the Red Panda enclosures... I had never heard of Red Pandas until now...
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