The picture shows the giant panda photographed in the jurisdiction of the protection station (data map). Photo by He Yiwen
The deep mountains of Qinling Mountains have guarded the giant panda for thirty years: from "chance encounters" to "regular encounters" The giant pandas' "homeland" is getting better and better
Xi'an, February 6 ( China News Network) Title: The deep mountains of Qinling Mountains have guarded giant pandas for thirty years: from "chance encounters" to "regular encounters" The giant pandas' "homeland" is getting better and better
Author Alina Cao Qing
On the 6th, the sixth day of the first lunar month of the year of Nongyin, the year is still strong. Shaanxi Foping National Nature Reserve Sanguanmiao Protection Station inside and outside the snow-capped, heaven and earth between the quiet. He Yiwen, who is on duty here during the Spring Festival, in addition to his daily work, also enjoys the fun of accompanying nature.
Scenery around Bald Mountain in the area under the jurisdiction of the Sanguanmiao Protection Station of Foping Conservation Area (data map). Photo by He Yiwen
Located on the southern slope of the middle section of the Hinterland of Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Foping National Nature Reserve is a nature reserve with the protection of giant pandas as the main type of forest and wildlife, and the fourth comprehensive survey of giant pandas in the country shows that the number of wild giant pandas in Foping Nature Reserve is 67, which is the area with the highest density of wild giant pandas and the highest rate of wild encounters in China. The high-density giant panda population in the reserve has also led to the reconstruction and increase of the giant panda population in the surrounding area.
In the Xihe and Sanguanmiao areas of Foping, the population density of giant pandas reaches one per 1.5 square kilometers. The Sanguanmiao Conservation Station, where He Yiwen works, is located in this mangy forest sea of high-density activities of giant pandas and associated species.
He Yiwen, who began to participate in the patrol work of the reserve in 1992, is already the "old man" of the protection station. Over the years of field patrols, wading through mountains and rivers, and paying attention to accumulation, he has a good understanding of the field situation in the jurisdiction of the Sanguan Temple Protection Station. In addition to his day-to-day work, he acts as a guide for the team that conducts scientific research here.
"When I was young, the bamboo forest in the mountains was not so dense, and there were not so many trees. There are also grain plants around the protection station, 'planting a slope and harvesting a dustpan', and the work is not less, but the harvest is very low. He Yiwen, who grew up in the Sanguan Temple, said that with the improvement of the ecological environment and the enhancement of protection, the chance of seeing various wild animals around the protection station has also increased a lot.
"Now, wild pandas can be seen several times a year during patrol work, especially in specific months. I have seen giant pandas in the bamboo forest, in the trees, fighting, with their babies, very lively and eye-catching. He Yiwen laughed and said that for him, the encounter with the giant panda was not a "chance encounter", but an agreed "encounter".
Giant pandas with their backs to bamboo and eating bamboo (infographic). Photo by He Yiwen
"In February 2020, I was on duty at the Sanguanmiao Protection Station, and two Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys came to 'visit the door'. In 2022, near the Spring Festival, wild giant pandas went to the conservation station to 'punch in'. During the Spring Festival of the protection station, there are few people, and it is still 'lively'. He Yiwen said that the work life of the protection station is unique, and occasionally encounters "surprises".
He Yiwen described to reporters that on the 27th day of the Waxing Moon, a giant panda entered the courtyard from the back door of the protection station, took the standard "panda step", walked "seriously" in the courtyard, and also marked a "sign" in the courtyard, as if entering no man's land. After the "inspection" in the yard, the giant panda walked into an empty house, "inspected" a circle and walked out, and then turned into another empty house. After that, I walked out of the courtyard through the front door and went into the bamboo forest.
It is understood that since the completion of the Sanguanmiao Protection Station, about twenty injured and sick pandas have been rescued. The protection station has made "great contributions" to the discovery, treatment and healing of injured and sick wild animals.
"Children who grow up in this 'panda village' have a different 'affection' for wild animals such as giant pandas, just like their own 'neighbors' and 'relatives'." He Yiwen said that in that year, many villagers in the Sanguan Temple participated in the rescue of injured and sick wild animals such as giant pandas.
Giant pandas eating in bamboo forests (infographic). Photo by He Yiwen
In the winter of 1991, He Yiwen's grandfather, He Changlin, fed the rescued panda cub "Pingping" with milk powder and bottles for his grandson. He Yiwen said that his family's fate with giant pandas began as early as his grandfather's generation. Today, his uncles, cousins, and cousins also participate in the patrol of the reserve, and three generations of his family have been dutifully responsible for the protection of wild animals and plants, and are generally recognized by the staff of the reserve.
Since the implementation of the ecological migration project in the SanguanMiao temple more than ten years ago, the villagers near the protection station have relocated and left, and the possibility and opportunity of finding injured and sick wild animals in the wild have all "relied on" the protection station to be "exclusive".
"For me, the work of the conservation station is very interesting, I like to have 'zero distance' contact with nature, and I also like to 'meet' all kinds of wild animals with me. Here, a tree, a flower and a grass, a bird and a beast, all make me feel very close. He Yiwen said that after spending many years with Dashan, he felt that this kind of work life was very fulfilling.
"The 'home' of wild animals and plants is becoming more and more beautiful, and the people's awareness of protection is getting stronger and stronger, and I believe it will become better in the future." He Yiwen, 49, said he would "work until the day he couldn't move." (End)
Source: China News Network