Netizen involvement
The growing popularity of video clips and live streaming websites featuring giant pandas has raised awareness about panda conservation from an increasing number of panda fans all over the world, Zhao Huawen, founder of the Eudemonia Bank, an organization based in Chengdu dedicated to protecting panda habitats, told the Global Times.
Many panda videos on Chinese online streaming platforms such as Bilibili.com have attracted over 1 million views, and State media have also been posting more panda photos and videos on foreign social media including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook in order to attract a global audience.
Many netizens watching such videos express their wishes to become panda keepers. Gapper, a Shanghai-based volunteer organization, launched a panda program in 2017 to organize college students to volunteer at panda bases in Sichuan Province, a marketing department employee surnamed Huang from Gapper told the Global Times.
During their five-day program, panda keepers in Sichuan teach the young volunteers how to clean up panda excrement and prepare apples, carrots and other snacks. Such volunteer programs can also be found at several other panda bases around China.
"All of these videos and volunteer programs have made the keepers' job more transparent, urging them to work more cautiously to reduce the chances of improper treatment to pandas," Diao said.
Panda keepers have also been placed under public supervision, as panda fans now report any suspected panda abuse cases to authorities, Zhao said. For instance, last week Chinese netizens became outraged following a widely circulated online post about mite infections at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, although the base later denied the accusation.
In July of 2017, panda fans posted video footage of a panda cub being dragged on the ground by panda keepers at a Chengdu research base. Netizens denounced the behavior, and several days later the involved panda keepers received oral criticism from the base, thepaper.cn reported.
"However, exposure of panda abuse cases online have also turned pandas into a sensitive issue in China, as many zoos are now reluctant to cooperate with a third party on panda conservation projects or related surveys, and some panda keepers are nervous about talking about their work," Zhao said.
International research
Giant pandas have often played a unique role in China's politics and diplomacy as irreplaceable goodwill ambassadors of friendship. In recent years, China has strengthened international cooperation on the scientific research of pandas.
The CCRCGP established scientific research relationships with 15 zoos in 13 countries including the US, the UK and Japan. Currently, 34 giant pandas have been sent abroad, giving birth to 18 overseas panda cubs, according to a press release CCRCGP sent to the Global Times.
In the most recent case, a pair of giant pandas, Huabao and Jinbaobao, arrived in Helsinki on January 18, making Finland the eighth country in Europe to forge ties with China in panda research.
A Chinese veterinarian and panda keeper from Chengdu will stay at the zoo for one month to train Finnish panda keepers. Two panda keepers from Finland also traveled to Chengdu several times throughout 2017 to learn from their Chinese counterparts, the CCRCGP said.
"Actually, foreign zoos usually start to prepare four or five years before the arrival of pandas, which involves building panda enclosures and planting suitable bamboos. And Chinese panda keepers and animal experts visit the zoos several times to examine the pandas' living environment and food preparations," Diao said.
Foreign countries learn about reproduction technologies from the Chinese side, and China introduces new technologies from other countries, such as GPS tags used on pandas released into the wildness, the Beijing News reported.
However, international scientific research of pandas have also drawn criticism from Western media, which has said that China sends pandas abroad for political and economic purposes rather than scientific research.
Zhao denied the accusations, saying panda conservation is a global cause and plays a significant role in biodiversity conservation worldwide.
