Conservationists are dressing up in fluffy panda costumes to help prepare captive-born cubs to live in the wild.
They are anxious to ensure the endangered animals have as little contact with humans as possible, reports the Daily Mail.
So rather than being hand-reared, they are being brought up by their mothers in a piece of protected woodland.
Human help is always on hand, as their every move is monitored by CCTV. Their keepers can see in a moment if they need medicine or a health check-up.
But they make sure to slip into their panda suits before venturing anywhere near, as they are anxious their charges don’t become used to humans.
Keepers at the Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre in western China believe the costumes are vital if the cubs are to survive when finally released into the wild.
In 2006, Xiang Xiang, a five-year-old male, was freed after spending three years being taught survival skills such as foraging for food and marking his territory.
After initially appearing to be adjusting well, he died after getting into a fight with a group of wild pandas.
They are thought to have sensed something different about the human-reared interloper.
With fewer than 2,500 giant pandas living free in China, conservationists are desperate not to take any chances with the next group facing life in the wild.
The workers of Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre for the Giant Panda, situated in China’s Sichuan Province (四川省) are wearing panda costumes when they are working with giant panda cubs. This helps to prepare cubs for the wild.
bron: web.orange.co.uk, acidcow.com [7-12-2010]