A wildlife conservation team has partnered with villagers in Hunchun City, northeast Jilin Province, to mitigate human conflicts with leopards and endangered Siberian tigers roaming the area.
More than 70 percent of Hunchun City lies within the boundaries of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, a place believed to be home to over 60 wild Siberian tigers. The possibility of locals encountering a tiger or leopard are high.
A team of Hunchun Wildlife Conservation Society patrols regularly, alerting locals of any potential dangers. In addition to detecting and warning, the patrol team also gives regular lectures to villagers on how to deal with tigers in the wild and the importance of protecting them as a species.
"Once we see on our phones or computers that there are tigers and leopards passing by, we will contact nearby villages and villagers' committees. They will issue warnings to villagers, telling them that there are tigers out there and they should not head to the mountains," said Du Jiaxing, a patrol member.
In Machuanzi Township, adjacent to the national park, hunting traps for deer and wild boars were adapted to avoid hurting wild Siberian tigers.
"Over 1,000 traps were adapted, and we found out a lot of problems," said Jiang Yuanzhi, one of the villagers.
"Tigers and leopards do not disrupt our lives at all. They are high on the food chains and are a limit to the number of wild boars," said Lang Chunliang, another villager.
Another crucial effort of Siberian tiger conservation is establishing and expanding connected forests, so the animals have secure places to live, roam and breed. The national park transformed the forest structure not just for the tigers, but also for their prey, in an effort to build a healthy ecosystem.
Conservationists partner with villagers to reduce human-wildlife conflict in northeast China
To celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou City of Guangdong Province, south China introduced to visitors baby panda Mei Zhu, the daughter of Meng Meng, the oldest sister of the world's only surviving panda triplets, and prepared a series of activities on Friday.
Mei Zhu, aged only 87 days, is in good health and just began teething. But the baby panda always gets a bit cranky after milk feedings, and requires panda keepers to spend around half an hour to calm her down.
"As a young panda, her digestive system is still developing, and excessive activity after feeding can lead to digestive issues. She is quite energetic now. If she found any strangers entering her enclosure and they wanted to, for example, pet her, she would be quite defensive, due to her self-protection instincts," said Chen Siming, a wildlife conservation expert.
Another star panda in the zoo, Guo Qing, also received his present, a pile of mooncake-shaped wowotou (a type of steamed corn bread). Guo Qing was of good appetite, which amused many of his fans.
"I am here just to see her. I drove 38 kilometers just to watch her mischief. She is very famous for that, always causing trouble when her keeper is not around," said a visitor.
The koalas are also welcoming guests. Totaling over 70 koalas in the park, more than 40 of them were presented to visitors by their keepers. The chubby animals constitute a big family of eight generations, with the youngest being 2 years old and the oldest reaching 19, much older than the average lifespan of the species.
"We've sent technicians to Australia to learn how to feed the Koalas, pick up veterinary and health care skills. With our valuable experience gained through years of raising the koalas, we are able to provide them good environment, food, and medical care. As a result, the average lifespan of the troop is getting longer," said a koala keeper.
In addition to these highlights, Chimelong Safari Park is also planning a series of animal enrichment events and sharing stories of the animals with the visitors during the Mid-Autumn Festival vacation.
Safari park in Guangzhou presents baby panda to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival
