How pandas are raised in Sichuan Province

Photographer Amy Vitale, along with a team from PBS and National Geographic Television, visited the mountainous province of Sichuan to tell how pandas are raised, which are about to be released into the wild.

The panda remains a constant symbol of China, but at the same time it is a rare species that is on the verge of extinction. Due to the long extermination of these animals and a sharp reduction in the area of their habitat, there are about 1,600 pandas left in the world. Environmental experts have been trying for years to increase the population of these cute black and white bears. In 2005, scientists from the Volon National Reserve in China experimentally released a young male panda into the wild, but he soon died, most likely as a result of a fight with wild pandas. It was then that the director of the reserve, Zhang Heming, who was nicknamed Papa Panda, and his team realized that the animals born in captivity did not really know how to be pandas. Then it was decided to redo the entire program from scratch. 

Chinese experts have decided that the best way to raise pandas suitable for life in the wild is to erase all traces of human presence from their world and allow mothers to raise their offspring on their own.

A captive-born panda in a basket is preparing to move from a building to a breeding center in Sichuan Province, China.

14 panda cubs on a blanket at the panda breeding and research center.

An employee of the center carries bamboo to pandas, who are being prepared for life in the wild. The keepers of the reserve should dress up in panda costumes so that the animals do not see a person before they are released into the wild.

Caretakers in panda costumes are trying to lure panda Yun Tao into a box to transport her to another aviary of the reserve.

A 14-year-old panda named Her with her cub. The mother was born in captivity, and her cub is being prepared to be released into the wild in a few years.

Her cub, which is only a month old.

Panda costumes hang in the Volon National Reserve. All employees of the reserve interacting with pandas, who are being prepared for life in the wild, must wear panda costumes.

A caretaker in a panda costume in an aviary. A resident of the aviary is in the background.

Zhang Heming and the other caretakers are waiting for the panda to come out of the cage.

Zhang Xian— a two-year-old panda born in captivity, was released into the wild.

These pandas are constantly monitored by cameras.

A panda born in captivity eats bamboo in the forest of Day Shen, in Sichuan Province.

A basket with a small bamboo bear in the panda breeding center.