China's First Giant Panda College Established in Sichuan

China's first-ever Giant Panda College jointly established by China West Normal University and the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Forestry and Grassland (Sichuan Giant Panda National Park Administration), was officially unveiled in Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, on September 25th. 

Opening ceremony site [Photo by Huang Jun]

It is reported that the Giant Panda College will focus on five functions: talent cultivation, scientific research, social services, cultural inheritance, and international exchanges, and will focus on training high-level professionals in the protection of rare animals and plants such as giant pandas. It will strive to play an important role in ecological environment protection, habitat ecological restoration and management, construction and management of the Giant Panda National Park, giant panda population restoration and wild release, and giant panda culture research and communication.

China West Normal University has long focused on the ecological protection of rare wildlife and plant resources in Southwest mountain systems. It is the university that conducted the earliest, longest lasting and most influential research in the field of wild panda ecology, enjoying the reputation of "Panda University". Since the 1970s, experts and scholars represented by Professor Hu Jinchu and Professor Qin Zisheng have begun giant panda conservation and research, creating "four firsts" in this field: organizing and leading the first national field survey and research on giant pandas; establishing the world's first giant panda field ecological observation station; promoting China's first international cooperation on wildlife conservation; and publishing the the world's first academic monograph that comprehensively explores the ecological environment and habits of giant pandas.