“Adding a year, endless joy!” On the 19th at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (referred to as the “Panda Center”) Wolong Shenshuping Base, visitor Zhang Rui wrote this heartfelt wish on a postcard for the giant panda birthday season. The warm postcard was then hung on a massive bamboo cake.
From July to September each year, during the peak birthing season for captive giant pandas, it’s also their birthday season. To promote giant panda science and increase public participation in biodiversity conservation, the Panda Center held the “‘Food’light Talk, Growth in Evidence” enrichment activity on the 19th, where pandas like “Fubao,” “Xiao Qiji,” and “Taishan,” who recently celebrated birthdays, enjoyed a sumptuous “summer enrichment gift.”
According to keepers, enrichment activities enhance captive animals’ curiosity and interest in their environment, helping reduce stereotypical behaviors. Through environmental, food, cognitive, sensory, and social enrichment, pandas’ lives and habitats are enriched, allowing them to display natural behaviors and live healthily and happily.
For “Panyue,” a giant panda becoming a mother for the first time, keepers prepared a special “skewer” made from bamboo shoots, apples, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. As “Panyue” enjoyed these treats, her two cubs mimicked their mother, curiously touching and exploring the food with their little paws.
In a nearby enclosure, giant panda “Hua Hu” received a special food platter made from watermelon and bamboo shoots. It approached the platter slowly, sniffing with its damp nose. After a careful inspection, this “food connoisseur” settled by the bushes, picked up fresh bamboo shoots from the platter, and leisurely enjoyed its “birthday feast.”
Giant panda “Fubao,” who is about to turn four, also joined the birthday celebration. A string of bamboo-crafted “firecrackers” was hung in the enclosure, which “Fubao” skillfully dismantled, sniffed, and nibbled, creating crisp sounds as it chewed. “Fubao’s” adorable antics attracted many tourists, who eagerly captured the moment with their cameras.
