Panda seekers in 'valley of death'
Source: Xinhua |
November 18, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN intrepid group of panda seekers has returned from "death valley" in the mountains of southwest China's Sichuan Province after a five-day expedition looking for traces of the endangered animals.
Conditions in the Heizhugou Nature Reserve, literally "death valley" in the local ethnic Yi dialect, are such that it is uninhabited by humans.
"This place is known as 'China's Bermuda Triangle,' as several people were reported missing here in the 1960s and 1970s," said Zhou Longlin, deputy chief of the reserve's administration. "The absence of human beings, however, makes the place an ideal habitat for wild animals."
Although the team from the World Wildlife Fund failed to spot any pandas, they did find evidence in the form of footprints and droppings.
The expedition was aimed at promoting public awareness of both the giant panda's role in the ecosystem and how ordinary people can get involved in wild panda protection, said Luo Xingbi of the WWF's Chengdu office.
After nearly five hours of trekking on their first day, team member Zhang Junming, from central China's Hunan province, reported his first major discovery - panda droppings that were at least six months old.
"It was dried out and the bamboo fiber had turned dark," said Li Shiheibu, a forestry worker at the reserve who was the team's guide.
Two days later, Zhang and his teammate, Guan Jianhong from Beijing University, found fresh droppings and recently-consumed bamboo.
Li said pandas can smell humans at a range of up to 5 kilometers. "They flee before you spot them," he said.
However, the pandas can also be quite brazen in their interactions with humans. When blizzards hit, the pandas sometimes sneak into nearby villages and steal sheep, said Qu Bieguahu.
Qu is one of several ethnic Yi villagers who provide data for panda researchers.
All the households in Qu's village have tall fences around their sheepfolds to keep out wild animals, he said.
A survey based on their data indicates that about 33 giant pandas live on the reserve in the Liangshan Mountains on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.
Conditions in the Heizhugou Nature Reserve, literally "death valley" in the local ethnic Yi dialect, are such that it is uninhabited by humans.
"This place is known as 'China's Bermuda Triangle,' as several people were reported missing here in the 1960s and 1970s," said Zhou Longlin, deputy chief of the reserve's administration. "The absence of human beings, however, makes the place an ideal habitat for wild animals."
Although the team from the World Wildlife Fund failed to spot any pandas, they did find evidence in the form of footprints and droppings.
The expedition was aimed at promoting public awareness of both the giant panda's role in the ecosystem and how ordinary people can get involved in wild panda protection, said Luo Xingbi of the WWF's Chengdu office.
After nearly five hours of trekking on their first day, team member Zhang Junming, from central China's Hunan province, reported his first major discovery - panda droppings that were at least six months old.
"It was dried out and the bamboo fiber had turned dark," said Li Shiheibu, a forestry worker at the reserve who was the team's guide.
Two days later, Zhang and his teammate, Guan Jianhong from Beijing University, found fresh droppings and recently-consumed bamboo.
Li said pandas can smell humans at a range of up to 5 kilometers. "They flee before you spot them," he said.
However, the pandas can also be quite brazen in their interactions with humans. When blizzards hit, the pandas sometimes sneak into nearby villages and steal sheep, said Qu Bieguahu.
Qu is one of several ethnic Yi villagers who provide data for panda researchers.
All the households in Qu's village have tall fences around their sheepfolds to keep out wild animals, he said.
A survey based on their data indicates that about 33 giant pandas live on the reserve in the Liangshan Mountains on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.
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