China's first human-raised giant panda to be set free on Friday
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-04-28 09:46 Five-year-old Xiangxiang, the human-raised giant
panda will be set free on Friday after receiving what maybe his last touch from
a human hand.
Giant panda
Xiang Xiang receives a final physical checkup at the Wolong Giant Panda
Protection and Research Center, SW. Sichuang Province, on April 27, 2006.
The five-year-old panda was bred in captivity and will be released into
the wilds around the center on Friday.
[Xinhua] |
Experts from the China
giant panda protection research center, located in Wolong, southwestern Sichuan
Province, performed Xiangxiang's last physical checkup, taking his blood
pressure and giving him a number of inoculations. The experts have declared the
bear, who wieghs 80 kilograms and measures 1.1 meters, to be very strong and
healthy.
Tang Chunxiang, a senior vet at the center, said they also fitted Xiangxiang
with a collar containing a satellite positioning device and a wireless tracking
monitor.
Born at the center in August, 2001, Xiangxiang, whose mother was artificially
inseminated, has spent the last three years in a 200,000-square-meter wildness
training compound.
Zhang Hemin, director of the center, said Xiangxiang is now able to, on his
own, select food, mark his territory and fend off intruders.
He said the center picked late April to release Xiangxiang into the wilds
around the center because that's when his favorite food, bamboo shoots, are
emerging, making it easier for him to survive.
Currently, there are about 1,590 wild giant pandas in the world and 180 in
captivity.
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