China to release first captive-bred panda
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-04-27 06:48
BEIJING - China's first artificially raised giant panda will soon be
released into the wild after 15 years of captive breeding, state press
reported.
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| An An, a male
panda, eats bamboo at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre in Sichuan,
southwest China. [AFP] |
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Xiang
Xiang, a four-year-old male raised at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and
Research Center, will be the first to be released out of more than 180
captive-bred pandas worldwide, Xinhua news agency said.
Xiang Xiang will be released at the height of the season for bamboo shoots,
making it easier for him to find food, center director Zhang Hemin said.
He added that the panda will be fitted with a global positioning device so
his movements can be tracked by satellite.
Xiang Xiang, which means auspicious, has been undergoing preparations for two
years and already knows how to forage for food, build a den and mark his
territory, the report said.
He has also developed defensive skills similar to wild pandas such as howling
and biting.
Captive-bred pandas have lost much of their ability to live in the wild,
scientists say, with only 24 percent of artificially raised females able to give
birth.
This poses serious challenges to the survival of the species and has led
scientist to seek new ways to reintroduce pandas into their natural habitats.
China started a 12.5 million dollar giant panda training project in 2003 to
train pandas how to live in the wild before releasing them, Xinhua said.
Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered species. Over 180 pandas
live in captivity around the world, and an estimated 1,590 in the wild, mostly
in the mountains of Sichuan, according to Chinese studies.
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