FISU Games mascot reflects decades of panda conservation efforts

CHENGDU -- The southwestern Chinese metropolis of Chengdu saw the launch of the 31st FISU World University Games on Friday, with its mascot Rongbao based on the giant panda, a wild animal closely associated with the region.

China's giant panda has been the focus of intense conservation efforts over the decades, from 1963, when the first batch of giant panda reserves were initiated, to the construction of the country's giant panda national park in recent years. As a result, the animal has seen a significant recovery in its population, and has been downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable."

The panda, which is generally acknowledged as a "national treasure" among Chinese people, boasts enduring charm and appeal around the globe, as clearly embodied in the success of the Chengdu FISU World University Games mascot. In addition, China's decades-long efforts to preserve the species and its habitats have served as another paradigm of biodiversity protection for the whole world.

FROM CAPTIVE BREEDING TO WILD TRAINING

In late May, the panda Xinxin gave birth to a cub at the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province. It was the first birth this year for the captive pandas at the center. The center's staff are keeping a close eye on a dozen or so pregnant pandas around the clock.

China started captive breeding of pandas in its zoos as early as 1953.

A research team led by Zhang Hemin dedicated about 13 years to making major breakthroughs in enticing captive-bred pandas to mate, as well as improving the survival rate of cubs.

Thanks to relentless efforts by generations of researchers, China's captive breeding technologies have made remarkable progress over the years, boosting the species' population in captivity from an initial 10 pandas to more than 670 now.

However, this is still far from the ultimate goal of the scientists. "Captive breeding is not the end. The best protection for giant pandas is to release them back into nature," said Zhang.

In 2010, a 15-member research team led by Wu Daifu, director of the Wolong Hetaoping base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, started their decade-long project of training pandas to live and breed in the wild.

Their very first attempt involved four captive giant pandas. To date, 11 captive-bred pandas have received training and been released into the wild by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, while six female pandas have been sent to mate with wild pandas.

In the future, China will strive to release three to six captive pandas into the wild annually, and will gradually establish a genetic germplasm bank of wild giant pandas to increase the genetic diversity of the species.

FROM ONE SPECIES TO THE WHOLE ECOSYSTEM

The last pristine home of China's wild pandas is a long and narrow strip of forest-covered wilderness stretching from the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the Qinling Mountains.

"Over the past two to three decades, through the joint efforts of the government, scientists and the international community, the decline in the area of wild habitats and wild population of giant pandas has been gradually reversed, and there has been a significant recovery in both figures," said Li Sheng, a researcher at Peking University's School of Life Sciences.

In 2017, China launched its pilot work on building a national park system for giant pandas. In 2021, the Giant Panda National Park was officially set up, covering about 27,000 square km over three provinces.

In the counties of Pingwu and Jiuzhaigou, pandas have long had difficulty mating between the two places because of the winding mountain roads and frequent human activities.

But now, as the national park helps integrate their habitats, the winding roads have been replaced by tunnels and the surrounding vegetation has gradually recovered, allowing wild animals such as pandas and takin to move about the slopes freely.

Sichuan's Baoxing County, where giant pandas were first discovered, has shut down more than 20 hydroelectric power facilities and all the mines inside the national park to give the wildlife a better living environment.

Now, local villagers frequently spot wild pandas as they go about their daily lives.

"We protect the giant panda not only to protect this single species, but also to protect the entire ecosystem," said Zhang Qian with the wildlife and wetland protection department of the provincial forestry and grassland bureau.

The giant panda is now a flagship species for global biodiversity protection. Under the auspice of the giant panda national park, rare wildlife species, including snow leopards and tufted deer, as well as new subspecies of wild plants, have been frequently spotted in the area.

In Rongbao, the 31st FISU World University Games really have a mascot worth cheering for.