“We must not forget that nature is the true home of the giant panda.”
On June 24, 2024, outside the second-phase wild training site for giant pandas at Tiantai Mountain in the Wolong section of the Giant Panda National Park, staff member Mu Shijie, dressed in a panda suit, fed apples to the mother panda “Xianxian” inside the training area (Photo by Shen Bohan).
On February 14, the Wolong Shenshuping Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (hereinafter referred to as the “Panda Center”) was covered in a blanket of snow. Amidst the snow-covered forests, the giant panda “Tiantian” leisurely turned and walked slowly into the depths of the bamboo forest. Behind this harmonious scene lies the wisdom and dedication of countless panda guardians.
As a crucial base of the Panda Center, the Wolong Shenshuping Base primarily focuses on panda breeding and cub-rearing, while the Wolong Hetaoping Base plays a key role in exploring wild training and habitat conservation for the species.
According to data, the protected area of China’s giant panda habitats has expanded from 1.39 million hectares to the current 2.58 million hectares. Meanwhile, the wild panda population has grown from around 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 today, marking a dual increase in habitat protection and wild population numbers. However, among the 33 existing local panda populations, 18 still have fewer than 10 individuals, making it unsustainable to rely solely on in-situ conservation.
“The ultimate goal is to return giant pandas to nature and help them adapt to it,” said Mu Shijie, a panda caretaker who has been engaged in wild training and reintroduction efforts for over a decade. He emphasized to Liaowang Oriental Weekly that through scientific wild training, captive-born cubs can acquire survival skills, improve genetic diversity in small populations, and reduce the risk of extinction. “We must not forget that nature is the true home of the giant panda.”
Wild Training and Reintroduction
In May 2008, Mu Shijie was assigned to the Wolong Hetaoping Base of the Panda Center, beginning his career as a giant panda caretaker.
Every morning, Mu and his colleagues would grind soybeans, corn, and other ingredients into powder to carefully prepare 800-gram nutritional steamed buns for the pandas. “At that time, I was responsible not only for food preparation but also for the feeding management and wild training of the panda ‘Caocao,’” he recalled. This experience allowed him to truly step into the world of giant pandas.
The production of these buns had to be adjusted based on the number of pandas in care, ranging from 15 to 60 kilograms per batch. “An adult giant panda should be fed no more than 1,600 grams of buns per day, with bamboo as its primary food source,” Mu explained. They also supplemented the diet with fruits and vegetables, such as a 200-gram apple or carrot in both the morning and afternoon, to ensure a balanced nutrition intake.
Despite these efforts, wild pandas still face severe survival challenges. Geographic barriers and human activities have fragmented their population into 33 isolated groups, half of which are on the verge of extinction.
To address this crisis, the Panda Center launched a wild training and reintroduction program in 2003.
This program is carried out in two stages. In the first stage, newborn cubs learn basic survival skills like climbing trees by following their mothers in a small, simulated natural environment. In the second stage, when they reach one year old, they are moved to a 200,000-square-meter wild training area, where they acquire advanced survival skills, such as foraging and avoiding predators, in a completely natural setting.
In 2010, Mu officially joined the wild training and reintroduction team. Around the same time, the panda Caocao entered the experimental training enclosure.
“Caocao was rescued from Caopo Township in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, which is why she was given this name. After being transported from Wolong to the Ya’an Bifengxia Base, she gave birth to a pair of twins,” Mu explained. Since Caocao had extensive experience in the wild, the team needed to gradually train her to wear a GPS collar. This process took three months, involving progressive desensitization by first familiarizing her with an old collar, then rubbing it on her shoulders, and finally massaging her shoulders to help her adapt.
GPS collars play a key role in the second phase of the wild training program. They allow base staff to track the pandas’ movements using a radio receiver, providing valuable field data for research teams studying wild panda behavior.
In August 2010, Caocao’s cub Taotao became a primary focus of the training program. “Whenever we needed to feed the mother or conduct a health check on the cub, we wore specially designed panda suits sprayed with the mother’s urine or smeared with her feces to prevent the cub from developing human dependency,” Mu said.
Guarding the Forest
As the first successfully reintroduced panda raised by its mother, Taotao’s growth was a testament to the dedication of his caretakers.
In February 2011, Mu Shijie moved with Caocao and Taotao to the Tiantaishan Wild Training Area, embarking on a life in the mountains. They remained stationed there for as long as 32 consecutive days at a time. “As long as the panda stays in the mountains, we won’t leave our post,” Mu Shijie said, his words reflecting the countless nights spent under the stars.
Feeding was a delicate process. Mu Shijie would use a bamboo leaf whistle to call for Caocao whenever the cub had wandered about 50 meters away from its mother. “We fed her twice daily, in the morning and afternoon. Caocao recognized our call and would come out of the bamboo forest. We had to ensure the mother had enough nutrition while preventing the cub from coming into contact with human-provided food,” he explained.
After feeding, Mu Shijie and his colleagues would patrol the electronic fence around the training area to check for damage. If they found any, they would repair it immediately. They often walked for 8 to 10 hours a day. Additionally, they regularly collected panda fecal samples, labeled and froze them, and periodically transported them down the mountain for testing.
The work of wild training was detailed and demanding. The team monitored the sounds recorded by the GPS collars daily to track the pandas’ activities and prepare for potential risks.
“Every month, we fit the pandas with a recording device that records for three consecutive days. This allows us to analyze every moment within a 72-hour period,” Mu Shijie said.
He had become highly familiar with panda vocalizations. “There are sounds of a mother looking for her cub, a cub nursing, and even a panda feeling discomfort while drinking water,” he said. Their computer records documented every drinking session and food intake, making data verification a time-consuming task. Mu Shijie often found himself working until 1 a.m.
The dedication of the guardians was unwavering, regardless of the weather. Mu Shijie recalled one particularly memorable experience when heavy snow suddenly fell in the mountains. Worried that the snow would bury the bamboo and affect the pandas’ food supply, the team braved the harsh conditions to check on them. After hours of arduous trekking, they finally found Taotao. From a distance, they saw him following his mother closely, successfully locating food, and joyfully rolling in the snow. Only then did Mu Shijie feel reassured.
In October 2012, when Taotao was deemed capable of independently foraging and maintaining a natural wariness of humans, he was released into the Liziping National Nature Reserve in Shimian County. The rewilding team knew they had added new hope for the future of this endangered species.
So far, Mu Shijie has successfully released 11 pandas into the wild, 10 of which he personally monitored throughout the process.
One of them, a particularly “rebellious” panda named Qinxin, made multiple escape attempts during her second-phase wild training. She dug tunnels five times to bypass the electronic fence and leave the designated area. Mu Shijie and his colleagues had to expand their search efforts each time to ensure her safety.
“This showed that she had fully mastered the survival skills her mother taught her,” Mu Shijie said with a smile.
The Best Legacy
The commitment to protecting giant pandas has been passed down from father to son in the Mu family. In 2016, Mu Shijie’s son, Mu Changyu, graduated from a vocational school and, after applying and passing an interview, became a giant panda keeper at the Wolong Shenshuping Base.
“Growing up in the base and being influenced by my surroundings, I always wished to be close to these national treasures. Now, that dream has come true,” Mu Changyu told Liaowang Dongfang Weekly.
While caring for the twin pandas Pu Pu and Fa Fa, the young keeper demonstrated the same meticulousness as his father—providing 30 kilograms of fresh bamboo daily, ensuring precise nutritional supplements, and continuously observing their behavior.
In captive breeding, newborn panda twins are typically raised with a combination of maternal care and human assistance, as a mother panda’s energy and ability to care for both cubs are limited. Usually, one cub is nursed by the mother, while the other receives human-assisted feeding.
To collect milk for hand-rearing, keepers must approach the mother closely. “I distract the mother by feeding her honey while soothing her emotions, then proceed with milk collection,” Mu Changyu explained. “During the process, I must carefully monitor her behavior. If she shows any signs of resistance, I must immediately withdraw and secure the enclosure to ensure safety.”
“Pu Pu, the older brother, is quite dominant—he has torn down almost every tree in the yard, earning the nickname ‘Demolition Team.’ Meanwhile, his younger sister, Fa Fa, has a much calmer personality,” Mu Changyu said. After each feeding, he carefully wipes the cubs’ mouths to prevent them from licking their tongues excessively or getting themselves dirty.
After feeding, he observes the interactions between the mother and her cubs through monitoring systems or in-person checks. “The main focus is on whether the mother licks the cubs and helps them defecate,” he explained. “If she neglects them for an extended period, I will intervene and record my observations in my notes.”
Mu Changyu has even learned to read a panda’s expressions. “When they’re happy, they blink frequently and even seem to smile. When they’re sad, their eyes open wide. If they want food or playtime, they cling to your leg and act cute,” he said.
On July 25, 2018, Caocao gave birth to the first pair of twin cubs successfully conceived through wild mating—He He and Mei Mei. Reflecting on this milestone, Mu Changyu said, “My father cared for Caocao, I cared for her daughter Mei Mei, and now Mei Mei has become a mother. This is the best legacy.”
Faced with the inexperience of first-time panda mothers, the new generation of caretakers continues the wisdom of their predecessors—providing appropriate human intervention, gradually fostering maternal instincts, and ultimately achieving natural parenting.
Fighting Side by Side
In 2018, working together in the Tiantai Mountain wilderness training zone not only strengthened the father-son bond between Mu Shijie and Mu Changyu but also deepened their shared professional dedication.
“The fieldwork environment is incredibly lonely, with only three or four people in each team. During the time I worked alongside my father, I truly felt both the warmth and strictness of his love. I also gained a profound understanding of the perseverance and resilience of the older generation,” Mu Changyu said.
At Tiantai Mountain, their primary responsibility was overseeing the mating and reproductive care of giant pandas Zhenzhen and Yichang. Before setting out each day, the father and son used GPS to locate the pandas and carefully checked their supplies, including food, GPS devices, and battery levels for recording equipment.
“Searching for the pandas often required trekking for four to five hours within the training zone. We carried heavy backpacks, and our clothes were soaked in sweat. But the moment we saw the pandas safe and sound, all our exhaustion disappeared, replaced by joy and relief,” Mu Changyu recalled.
In April 2018, Yichang entered the late stage of estrus. “We couldn’t follow too closely or too obviously—we had to keep our distance and remain quiet,” Mu Changyu explained. According to radio tracking signals, Yichang had stayed in a bamboo forest on the hillside opposite the No. 1 isolation pen for two days, with a limited range of activity, making it difficult for her to interact with wild male pandas. The cornmeal buns they had placed there earlier in the morning remained untouched.
Suddenly, the radio signal showed that Yichang had moved about 200 meters further up the ridge. Seeing this, Mu Shijie said excitedly, “This is a good sign! Yichang is moving uphill. By expanding her range at higher altitudes, she has a better chance of encountering a male panda.”
After returning to their wooden cabin for a quick lunch, it was already 3 p.m. Without much rest, they geared up again and set off to feed Zhenzhen, guiding her toward the higher-altitude breeding zone.
“Zhenzhen is quite lazy and prefers to stay in a lower area of the breeding zone, while wild pandas usually move to higher elevations during this season,” Mu Shijie explained. Training Zhenzhen and Yichang in wilderness survival not only helped assess how captive pandas adapt to natural environments but also provided valuable insights into panda behavior, interactions between captive and wild pandas, mating mechanisms, and social structures.
For Mu Changyu, fieldwork was tough, but having his father by his side gave him great confidence and security. From his father, he inherited more than just camouflage suits and intelligent monitoring devices—he also learned to understand the language of pandas and developed a deep, abiding love for nature.
Today, this father-and-son duo continues their story of guardianship. As the morning sun glides over the bamboo sea of Tiantai Mountain, their figures disappear once more into the lush greenery—where black-and-white spirits await a lifetime of protection, where ecological mysteries remain to be unraveled, and where a silent promise is passed down from generation to generation.