Work as an Assistant Panda Keeper at a Sanctuary in China and get to
know these wonderful, fascinating animals at first hand. Contributing to
their conservation must be up there on any Top Ten List of Things To Do.
"The survival of... the panda, and the protection of these areas is so
important. It is the only way we will guarantee that the populations
living in the region will continue to reap ecosystem benefits for many
future generations." - WWF's
Giant Panda Profile
►SUMMARY
FACTFILE
Start
Dates
All year round, starting weekly.
You choose your start and finish dates.
Duration
From 2 weeks up to 12 months+, subject
to visa requirements
Requirements
Minimum age 17. No qualifications
or knowledge of Mandarin necessary.
Price
From £1,045 for 2
weeks, ranging to
£2,525 for 12 weeks.
Full Price List
What's
included
►Accommodation
►Food
►Meeting
you at Chengdu Airport
►Transfer
to your accommodation
►Return
transfer to airport at the end of your project
►Full
pre-departure support
►Local
in-country team support and backup
►24-hr
emergency support.
What's not included
Flights, Cost of Visas (if a visa is
required, but we'll provide necessary documents and assistance),
Insurance.
Who can do this Project?
All projects are
open to all nationalities.
Unless otherwise stated, you need to be aged between 17 and 70+
PROJECT OVERVIEW Get up close and personal with one of the world's most
endangered species - the beautiful Giant Panda. Your role will be as an
Assistant Panda Keeper. You'll be able to observe, understand and
get to know the pandas living at the Panda Sanctuary during your project,
and really feel as though you are contributing to the conservation of one of the
most endangered species on the globe.
When you arrive, you you'll be taken to your accommodation,
settled in and introduced to everyone that you'll be working with. After the
opportunity to relax and recover from your journey, you'll receive a full tour
of the Panda Base and in-depth training, before getting stuck in! You
will generally work from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm every day with a number of breaks
during the day. You'll have weekends off to relax and sightsee with the other
volunteers.
WHAT YOU'LL GAIN FROM DOING THIS PROJECT
An exciting, never-to-be-forgotten adventure into the
Orient and Chinese culture.
The joy of getting to know
about, and the satisfaction of helping, these rare and threatened
animals.
New skills, more confidence, a greater understanding
of a different culture, invaluable personal and professional
development.
An entry on your CV or résumé that will put you head
and shoulders above most others in the job market
Assisting with providing medical care for the
pandas
Assisting with marketing at the reserve,
dependent upon your skills - for example, helping with the website,
funding bids, translation of materials into English, etc.
Workshops and education on the pandas from the
researchers at the centre
ABOUT
THE PANDA BASE
Wolong Panda Reserve, founded in 1980 with assistance from the WWF,
was one of the world's most famous and well respected Panda Sanctuaries before
the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake destroyed much of the infrastructure. This left the
Giant Pandas homeless, and most of them were transferred to the Panda
Protection and Research Center
where Travellers now works.
The base is around 2 hours by bus from Chengdu - a lively, vibrant
Chinese city (famous for spicy food!) where volunteers often spend time
at the weekends. The Panda Base is surrounded by V shaped Gorges, and
the area is famous for its varied vegetation, valleys and waterfalls.
The Panda Base has a dual purpose - research, breeding and
preservation of the pandas alongside tourism, which raises money for the
centre and educates the public. It has several areas, including the
Giant Panda breeding zone, the baby Giant Panda care zone, the research
centre, the bamboo woods (where 6 kinds of bamboo grow) and the offices.
The Base occupies an area of 60 square Km.
The aim of the Base is to breed Giant Pandas then eventually one day
release them back into the wild. This is the work that you will be
helping with.
ABOUT THE GIANT PANDA, AND WHY WE NEED TO HELP! The giant panda's future remains uncertain. This
peaceful, bamboo-eating member of the bear family faces a number of threats.
Its forest habitat, in the mountainous areas of southwest China, is
fragmented and giant panda populations are small and isolated from each
other. Meanwhile, poaching remains an ever-present threat.
By mid-2005, the Chinese government had established over 50 panda reserves,
protecting more than 10,400km² and over 45% of remaining giant panda
habitat. However, habitat destruction continues to pose a threat to the many
pandas living outside these areas, and poaching is a further problem.
Currently, only around 61% of the population, or about 980 pandas, are under
protection in reserves. As China's economy continues its rapid development,
it is more important than ever to ensure the giant panda's survival.
"The giant panda's
future remains uncertain... Saving the panda is not just about saving a
cute animal. The panda is an amazing species, but above all it is the
symbol of one of the most important regions in China: the Yangtze Basin.
The survival of the
panda and the protection of its habitat will ensure the quality of life
of millions of people living in the area. Panda habitat is found at the
top of the Yangtze Basin, an ecoregion shared by both pandas and
communities who have used the region's natural resources for thousands
of years. The basin is the geographic and economic heart of China, and
is one of the critical places for biodiversity conservation in the
world. Its diverse habitats contain many rare, endemic and endangered
animal and plant species, the best known being the giant panda.
Economic
benefits derived from the Yangtze Basin include tourism, subsistence
fisheries and agriculture, transport, hydropower and water resources.
This is why the survival of species, such as the panda, and the
protection of these areas is so important. It is the only way we will
guarantee that the populations living in the region will continue to
reap ecosystem benefits for many future generations."-
WWF's
Giant Panda Profile
.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
OPTIONAL ADD-ONS
"The keepers, staff, manager and masters were
all really friendly. I felt very happy and they made me felt at home"
Sandra Collado
Shaking with fear and desperately clinging to trees for support, many
had to be coaxed down to the ground as the quake uprooted forests and
sent boulders as "big as Volkswagens" crashing down from nearby
mountains.
The quake reportedly killed five staff
members and destroyed or severely damaged all 32 of the reserve's panda
houses. And despite the massive operation some of the 1,600 pandas
living in the wild in the Sichuan district remain missing, three of them
on the world famous Wolong reserve which was just 20 miles from the
epicentre of the quake.
A Chinese official said that the first
batch of bamboo, apples, and veterinary medicine for the pandas has
arrived at the reserve as well as food and the tents urgently needed by
the staff.
Lu Zhi, one of China's leading panda
experts, said researchers at the Sichuan reserves were combing the
mountains in search of pandas while also trying to alleviate the greater
human tragedy by delivering supplies to the remotest villages. At Wolong,
she said, a senior security administrator died while taking part in
rescue efforts.
Walter Weber, an American tourist
visiting the region when the earthquake struck, said the steep mountains
looming over the breeding centre were collapsing in landslides. "These
rocks were just flying in the air," he said. "A few of the rocks were
the size of Volkswagens."
British tourists on a panda-watching trip
at the Wolong Nature Reserve, in Wenchuan county, when the earthquake
struck have themselves been thanking the Chinese people.
Judy Ling Wong, 59, from Llanberis, north
Wales, told the China Daily in Beijing: "We were in the middle of the
panda centre, surrounded by sheer cliffs. Rocks fell all around. But
here I am, completely fine - and that is only half the miracle. The
other half is the Chinese people and the way they took care of us."
The 19 British tourists spent three
nights on a bus, unable to contact the outside world, before being
evacuated to Chengdu by Chinese military helicopter. Official figures
put the death toll at 34,073, with more than 220,000 injured.
The adorable twin panda
cubs bred in captivity just months after killer earthquake
Article - The Daily Mail, UK
As these adorable twin giant panda cubs playfully roll around on the
floor, they seem worlds away from the devastating earthquake that
destroyed much of their habitat in south west China.
They are one of the first twins delivered this year at the Bifengcia
base of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Yaan, in
the Sichuan Province. The cubs are said to be in good health just five
months after an earthquake left an important panda habitat, the Wolong
Nature Reserve, largely destroyed.
But there was cause for celebration for
the endangered species as the centre prepared a naming ceremony for the
twin cubs 100 days after their birth - in keeping with traditional
Chinese custom.
Thirteen giant panda have been born this year at the centre. Scientists
at the research base hope to increase the captive population of giant
pandas and ultimately reintroduce the distinctive black and white
animals to the wild, with the help of artificial breeding.
Before the earthquake - which hit on May
12 killing 70,000 people - there were 63 pandas kept at Wolong. After
the quake hit, 53 of them were transferred to breeding bases in other
areas. The rest were kept in safe places at Wolong. Among the panda
casualties were one killed, one missing and another became sick and
died.
There are only around 1,590 pandas living
in China, mostly in the Sichuan area and the northwestern provinces of
Shaanxi and Gansu. Last year, the number of captive bred giant pandas
was 239.
ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD
The exterior of the guesthouse
You will
stay in a fantastic and beautiful traditionally Chinese guesthouse on site along with the other volunteers. The hostel is only 3
minutes by foot from your workplace, so everything is within easy reach! All volunteers will share with
1 other volunteer of the same sex.
All your food is provided at the
guesthouse, and a selection of delicious Chinese dishes are available. There are also some
shops stocking food in and around the Panda base if you need to stock up on extra supplies.
TRAVEL:
You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Limited, ATOL No. 6856.
Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the
same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other
volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up
before leaving for your placement.
You'll fly into Chengdu Airport, where you will be met by a member of Travellers
staff. If we arrange your flights for you, we can arrange for you to fly directly
into Chengdu.
VISAS: We'll send you all the necessary forms and
information and make the process very easy for you.
Where possible, all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many of our
volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in their destination
country.
Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa
and the level of your air ticket,
of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavor to get
a changeable ticket.
To read about the excellentSupport
& Backup we provide before you leave and during
your programme,
please click here.
We can also arrange your flight
dates
to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a
fascinating and wondrous country
Suite 2A, Caravelle House, 17/19 Goring
Road, Worthing,
West Sussex, BN12 4AP, England
Tel: +44 (0)1903 502595 Fax: +44 (0)1903 708179
Email:
info@travellersworldwide.com
.
