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After a week of adapting to its new surroundings, Yulei, a 3-year-old panda from Sichuan, has fallen in love with the new bamboo breed in its new home. Yulei was among the eight pandas that settled in the ancient town of Fenghuang, central China's Hunan Province.
This is the first time the popular river town has welcomed giant pandas.
The pandas were kept as safe and comfortable as possible during a 15-hour ride in refrigerated trucks on May 30.
"We stopped at expressway service areas for a 30-minute rest every three hours. The keepers provided food and water for the pandas and carefully observed their health conditions," said Cheng Jianbin, a breeding expert at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Sichuan.
"The whole process went smoothly," he said. "Some pandas did experience discomfort such as carsickness, some instantly fell asleep upon arrival, and some showed stress in response to their new environment and kept climbing up the railings."
Cheng said it would take about 20 days for the pandas to adapt to their new environment, and that the reactions were normal. "Compared with the younger pandas, the adult pandas are in better condition."
The adult pandas he referred to were a 20-year-old and a 13-year-old. The six others, including Yulei, were much younger ones all born in 2017. It was their first time to have traveled such a distance.
"We will give them enough time to calm down and mark their new territories," Cheng said.
Giant panda "Qingfeng" is seen at a giant panda garden in Fenghuang County of central China's Hunan Province, June 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)
"We will also assist the local keepers to develop a close relationship with the pandas," said Cheng, who will stay in the Fenghuang panda park for the next three months. After Cheng, more experts from the Sichuan research center will take his place. Apart from the new bamboo, the pandas had an exclusive canteen, a hospital and new animal friends, and most importantly -- 12 panda keepers, two veterinarians and two panda nutritionists to take good care of them.
"Pandas are picky eaters. One adult panda consumes about 20 kg of bamboo a day but we have to prepare 40 kg," said Liu Yu, a panda keeper.
"The panda canteen also prepares steamed corn bread with ground rice, corn and soybean flour based on a special recipe, and apples and carrots to provide enough nutrition," Liu added.
Earlier this year, the 12 keepers underwent three months of training at the Sichuan center on panda habits, breeding, cleaning and health observation.
"We keep a diary for each panda, recording their diet, bowel movements and daily activities for follow-up health observation," said Liu, who was excited about the days ahead.
A set of unplugged recreational facilities for visitors were being installed next to the pandas' new home, said Long Lizhi, chairman of Yanchuang Company that operates the panda park.
"It's an idea well studied by panda experts that will minimize the noise impact on the pandas while providing comprehensive leisure and entertainment services to an increasing number of panda lovers," he said.
