Bamboo newly broken by a Giant Panda, Changqing Reserve
It’s happened!! After months of learning about Giant Pandas, seeing videos about them, writing blogs about them, and constructing an Action Plan to minimise the impact of tourism to them – I have seen a Giant Panda in the wild!!! Even now, nine days after this experience, I am still smiling when I think about it. Being winter and therefore having an increased opportunity to see them, my former manager, Mr Shi Jian, organised a car for me to spend a few days with one of our best trackers, Zhang Yongwen, in Changqing Reserve.
It is estimated that Changqing National Nature Reserve has approximately 100 pandas within our reserve boundaries. During June to September each year, the majority of these live in the high mountains, descending to the valleys for the colder months. According to Zhang Yongwen, due to their need to conserve energy, Pandas in Changqing often meander around existing tracks such as former logging roads, and Takin tracks. This means, that when tracking pandas in Changqing you walk along these valley tracks, and alongside rivers in search of signs that pandas have been nearby recently. Signs include freshly broken bamboo, a trail of fresh scats and if you’re really lucky the sound of bamboo breaking in the distance. However, as pandas meander off the tracks to find nice places to sit, chew bamboo and sleep – once you think you’re close to one, you often find yourself scrambling hand and foot up steep bamboo covered hills. Some may not like this side of tracking, but not me, I love it! It makes me feel alive, every scratch and bruise making me more determined, heart pumping loudly (‘will I see a panda this time’), it makes me feel like David Attenborough or a BBC cameraman!
Fresh Panda scat, Changqing Reserve
