Research Team of Giant Panda at CWNU Won First Prize of Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award

Giant pandas are resting in the tree [Photo by Xu Jun]

On the morning of May 30, 2018, the 2017 Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Award Conference was held in Chengdu. China West Normal University won the first prize for scientific and technological progress in Sichuan Province for its first completed unit of "Research on Wild Giant Panda Habitat and Population Revitalization Technology". The first author is Researcher Zhang Zejun.

The award-winning project was jointly completed by the panda research team of China West Normal University, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and the Chengdu Institute of Biology of Chinese Academy of Sciences. It lasted 16 years and was successively supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the International Cooperation Fund for Giant Panda of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and other projects. The project aims to address key scientific and technological challenges in the protection and management of wild giant pandas, utilizing advanced methods such as 3S technology, GPS capable of automatically shedding the collar, automatic triggering of infrared cameras, and microsatellite molecular markers. It has achieved a series of leading international and domestic research results.

It is reported that, in theory, research results have determined the minimum habitat area requirement for the survival of wild giant panda populations, identified limiting factors that affect the movement of wild giant panda populations, revealed the characteristics of habitat selection and different modes of initial dispersal, reproductive dispersal of wild giant pandas, etc., laid the main theoretical foundation for scientific on-site protection of wild giant pandas, and promoted the implementation of China's captive giant panda wild release project. Its ecological, economic, and social benefits are significant.

(Text by College of Life Science, China West Normal University)