Working With the Pandas

It seems that I have been rather lax at keeping my blog updates up to date - this of course means that I have been incredibly busy and have a lot to tell you all! Well, that is only partly true. I have been quite busy the past couple of weeks, but mostly that is because I have been at the panda reserve in Bifengxia volunteering with the pandas.

Day to day my job is fairly similar:
7:30 breakfast
8:00 start work and clear out panda enclosures
10:00 feed the pandas (repeat at 11:30)
12:00 lunch
2:00 feed pandas (and again at 3:30)

As you can see, the pandas tend to eat a lot and occasionally have extra activities in the afternoon like panda training - this teaches them certain poses so that they can be easily examined by a vet. We also weigh them every now and again, though this mostly means tempting them onto the scales with panda cake, which is made of bamboo, corn, eggs, rics and a couple of other things.

I have five pandas to look after, Yuan Yuan who is the only boy and who is underweight, Xi Xi who is fairly lazy but really cute too, Zi Xia who was rescued from the wild after being injured in a fight and now can't go back and Tian Tian who is incredibly sweet and likes to spend most of the time outside. My fifth panda arrived on the first afternoon I was there, replacing Yin Pin who had gone into oestrus that morning and was taken to the breeding centre. She's called Na Na and is possibly one of my favorites.

I have also met some amazing people while working at the base, which is just as well as the work with the pandas tends not to take too long so we are left with an awful lot of free time on our hands which we have managed to fill with walks and visits to other towns nearby. The weather has been a bit strange though, as it has gone from snowing to so warm you can sit outside in shorts and tshirts!! I'm hoping that the good weather will last.

It has been an amazing two weeks and I have really enjoyed it. I feel that even though I may not have actually helped saved any pandas I am a lot more informed about them which is quite a nice feeling.