Taotao back to the wild with 'skills'
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E-mail CNTV, October 11, 2012
"Taotao" underwent three stages of training before he was re-introduced into the wild. During the process, Taotao learned many important skills of survival.
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Taotao, the first giant panda born in captivity in a wild training center in Wolong, Sichuan, has successfully completed three training phases. |
Taotao's first steps back to his natural habitat began with the help of his mother. Six months after he was born in August 2010, Taotao acquired basic skills such as communicating and walking. His pace of learning is much faster than captive pandas.
When he was 7 months old, a heavy snowfall blanketed large areas of bamboo. It was during this period that the cub learnt how to find food by himself.
Soon Taotao picked up climbing skills. He can reach the top of 20 meter tall tree within 20 seconds.
Nearly two years later, Taotao moved onto the second stage of training. Staff always wear panda suits around him, to avoid him becoming too intimate with human beings. The cub had to adapt to an environment of being 2000 meters above sea level, as well as endure tests of snow disasters, storms and landslides.
The third stage of training was similar to the previous one. But the area Taotao lived in was much larger - around 240 thousand square meters. Here, he gained a very important ability - navigation.
The panda also learnt to escape from black bears and leopards by distinguishing their growl, or sniffing out their droppings.
Huang Yan, deputy director of China Giant Panda Conservation & Research Center, said, "When he senses the smell, he turns away immediately, and climbs up the tree. He can recognize the potential risks."
After 26 months, Taotao has reached the final stage of his journey. And ahead of him, is the beginning of a new life in the wild.
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