 How do you coax a panda into a cage and prepare it for the wild? Dress like one.
That's what staff at the Wolong Nature Reserve in China's Sichuan province are doing to lure two-year-old Taotao into a crate before releasing the young panda into the wild. The zoo keepers smeared their costumes with panda feces and urine to hide any traces of human scent and avoided interference from the mother by distracting her with bamboo. Researchers try to approach giant panda Taotao and its mother Caocao. They were transferred from a 2,100-metre high mountain to Hetaoping Research and Conservation Center for a health examination and to be prepared for reintroduction to the wild. Researchers wore panda costumes to ensure that the cub's environment was devoid of human influence. It's the last step of Taotao's months-long journey. Researchers have been prepping the two-year-old for his reintroduction into the wild. This is not the first time researchers have dressed up to look like pandas. Check out a video (see below) by ABC News when they visited the Wolong Panda Research Center late last year. Source: News.insing |