Once in a lifetime: How to track pandas in the wild

by Jerry Guo on

What you see in the shot here is a panda turd. And not just any panda turd, it’s a fresh panda turd. (Don’t worry. They smell like fresh bamboo.)

If you want the chance to find your own panda turds, there’s perhaps no better place than to trek to Wanglang Panda Reserve. That’s what I did last March, where I stopped as part of a big story for Science about the booming panda population. Unfortunately, the story is behind a subscription firewall, so here’s a shorter one I wrote about my trip for The Scientist.

Wanglang Panda Reserve can’t match its more famous big brothers, such as Wolong Panda Reserve, which NBC Nightly News, Animal Planet, etc love to cover. But that’s a great thing for you. Wanglang is very peaceful–chances are you’ll have the whole place to yourself. Their eco-tourism only recently kicked off, and even then, they rarely if ever receive any travelers from outside China.

To arrange your tour, you can try contacting the park directly, though I don’t believe any of the rangers or staffers speak English. Or you can go on one of the arranged tours, which will be more expensive of course. But it’s definitely an adventure to brag about once you get back. Worth every dollar!

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A behind-the-scenes tour of Wolong Panda Reserve

by Jerry Guo on

Awwww. Who doesn’t love pandas? Especially 20 adorable baby pandas playing in a “panda kindergarten.” Below is a gallery of exclusive photos from my reporting trip to Wolong Panda Reserve, the world’s most famous captive breeding center for these highly endangered animals.

Unfortunately, my big story for Science Magazine is behind a subscription wall, but you can check out a short story about my visit to Wolong here, for another magazine, The Scientist. There’s a fun little slide-show with even more pictures from that trip here.

I highly recommend visiting Wolong, particularly because they have a couple hundred pandas at the breeding center. It’s also set against an absolutely gorgeous backdrop. Oh, and if you have $100 to drop, you’ll even be able to hold your very own panda!

If you want to donate to help save these amazing animals, the two organizations that are doing incredible work (trust me, I interviewed them extensively) are WWF and Conservation International.

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Panda Spotting Becomes Easier

by Iva Skoch on

It just got a little bit easier to see Giant Pandas–there are more of them. The Chinese government reports that 2006 has been a banner year for panda cubs. According to China Daily, the government’s official English language newspaper, artificial insemination done at panda breeding centers around China has produced a record 27 healthy cubs, out of 30 born live. Scientists first started breeding them in 1960.

Only 1,590 are thought to live in the wild, while another 180 live in zoos or breeding centers worldwide.

We traveled to the Chengdu’s breeding facility last year, which is just outside the city of Chengdu, right in the center of China. It’s a beautiful park, and well worth the visit. If you choose to travel to see the pandas, be sure to also read up on the much larger Wolong Nature Preserve, further north of Chengdu. And don’t forget to sample the wonderful food of the Sichuan region!