Footage of giant pandas filmed recently at the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) in southwest China's Sichuan Province captures them enjoying their meal in tranquil, harmonious scenes.
In the first two clips, male panda Xin Qiao, and in the third, male panda Mao Mao, are seen munching on bamboo with calm, relaxed postures, creating a soothing atmosphere.
Xin Qiao, born in August 2024 at the Shenshuping base of the Wolong National Nature Reserve to mother Mei Mei, shares the spotlight with Mao Mao, who was born in August 2021 at the same reserve to mother Shui Xiu.
The CCRCGP has built the world's largest captive population of pandas and pioneered rewilding research through captive breeding and training. It also runs a global cooperation platform that links 18 zoos in 16 countries and regions with 39 domestic breeding institutions and more than 10 research institutes.
Footage captures giant pandas’ peaceful mealtime in Sichuan
A pair of protected common kestrels have turned an abandoned magpie nest on a telecom tower in Beijing's suburban Changping District into an unlikely nursery, offering a rare glimpse of birds of prey raising chicks in a built-up area.
The kestrels, a wild animal species under the second-class state protection in China, settled on the 30-meter-high tower, drawing birdwatchers and residents in the past few days.
Footage filmed by birdwatchers earlier showed an adult kestrel returning from a hunt and landing near the nest, where several fluffy chicks stretched their necks and flapped their wings as they waited to be fed.
The chicks have since shed their gray down and developed brown streaks and markings. They are now practicing flying.
"I basically come here every day now. It is very interesting to watch kestrels raise their chicks. The male bird is responsible for going out to hunt. Upon returning, he hands the food to the female, who feeds the chicks," said birdwatcher Si Shoujun.
"These are the two parent birds. The one on the left is the male, and the one on this side is the female. Today, I captured both of them in the same frame because the male returned to the nest without food. When the female saw that he came back with nothing, she tried to force him to go out and look for food, because there are still three chicks in the nest waiting for feed," Si explained.
Common kestrels are a relatively common raptor species in Beijing and are often seen in green spaces where vegetation is abundant. But nesting and raising chicks in the city's built-up areas is less common.
Beijing is now home to 531 recorded bird species, according to local authorities.
Protected kestrels turn Beijing telecom tower into unlikely nursery
