A panda family of four in Macao has won the hearts of an increasing number of people with their fluffy appearance and adorable behaviors, attracting 290,000 visitors last year.
A pair of giant pandas Kaikai and Xinxin were chosen as a gift of the central government to the Macao Special Administrative Region in 2015. They gave birth to twin brothers Jianjian and Kangkang in Macao in 2016. The panda family is now living a happy and leisured life.
"This is our Kangkang, the younger twin. He's a little smaller in size and has a more pointed face, just like his dad Kaikai. He's also very smart and always gains affection of his breeders by acting in a cutesy manner," said a panda caretaker.
In the panda pavilion, Macao's Seac Pai Van Park, the panda family receives attentive care from their zoo keepers. They enjoy fresh local bamboo, fruit, and high-fiber biscuits every day, with special fruit and bamboo cakes on their birthdays.
"They're actually quite familiar with us. Since they're now adult pandas, we can't interact with them the same way we did when they were younger, like being in the same space. However, we still have regular interactions, such as touching them safely, which they seem to enjoy. Sometimes we clean biscuit crumbs off their mouth or nose. This helps them get used to our voices and smells, building their trust in us, which makes it easier to carry out medical checks for them," said the caretaker.
As the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to China draws near, an increasing number of locals are visiting the park to see the panda family, wishing for them to thrive in Macao and bring even more happiness to the people, just as their names suggest.
Giant pandas in Macao capture hearts of visitors
Giant pandas in Macao capture hearts of visitors
Smart technologies have reshaped China's ecological and environmental monitoring system, Huang Runqiu, minister of Ecology and Environment, said Thursday in Beijing on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress(NPC).
"Regarding ecological and environmental monitoring, we have been promoting the digitalization, informatization, and intelligentization of the entire monitoring process in recent years, reshaping the ecological and environmental monitoring system. For instance, in water environment monitoring and sampling, we have used intelligent drones which can quickly locate sampling points, collect samples accurately, return rapidly, and they are safe and reliable, improving work efficiency by over 70 percent. They are particularly advantageous for sampling during flood seasons and in remote areas," Huang told the press.
"In terms of environmental sample analysis, we have developed 'lights-out laboratories' in recent years. As the name suggests, these labs operate without lights and are unattended. Through robotic arms, robots, and intelligent management systems, they achieve full-process automation and intelligence from sample handover, testing, and analysis to report generation. This has significantly enhanced work efficiency, increasing it by more than eightfold compared to traditional labs. More importantly, it reduces human interference, human error, and even data falsification," he said.
Thanks to the improved ecological and environmental supervision capabilities, the number of environmental violation cases nationwide has decreased from 130,000 five years ago to 43,000 last year, representing a decline of 68 percent, Huang said.
The minister said China has already applied environmental DNA technology in the biodiversity monitoring work.
"In the field of biodiversity monitoring, monitoring aquatic organisms remains a weak point. However, significant progress has been made in recent years as we have developed environmental DNA technology. Although this chip is very small in size, it contains DNA detection information for aquatic organisms, including the finless porpoise and the Chinese sucker, from 19 state-controlled sections in the Jiangsu segment of the Yangtze River. The results showed that over the past five years, more than 20 species of aquatic organisms have increased in this river section, fully demonstrating the tangible effectiveness of the ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River," Huang said while showing a chip to reporters.
The 14th NPC, China's national legislature, concluded its fourth session on Thursday.
Smart technologies reshape China's ecological, environmental monitoring system: minister
