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Photo 1
A panda at the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province in southwest China. Pandas are rare in the wild, with likely fewer than 1,000 living in the shrinking and fragmented habitats of China. Researchers like Michigan State University's Jack Liu work in conjunction
with the Chinese to better understand habitat challenges and the impact of
human interaction on areas of biodiversity such as Wolong.
Photo 2
Michigan State University graduate students Scott Bearer (left) and
Guangming He calibrate Global Positioning System equipment as they evaluate
bamboo growth in the Wolong Reserve in Sichuan Province.
Photo 3
Adult pandas in the open enclosures of the China Research and
Conservation Center for the Giant
Panda in the Wolong Reserve. The pandas
are munching on dietary cookies specially formulated at the center to
supplement their natural diet that is almost exclusively bamboo.
Photo 4
Jianguo "Jack" Liu of Michigan State University is pointing out panda "table scraps" -- pieces of chewed bamboo
stems. Since pandas in the wild are so rare, researchers rely on these clues
to track panda activity in the Wolong Reserve.
Photo 5
Dr. Liu points out a few stray panda hairs left on a tree trunk in Wolong's mountain forest. Pandas habitually mark trees by rubbing their hind ends against them.
Photo 6
Dr. Liu talks with a
merchant at a roadside stand in the Wolong Nature Reserve. These stands --
sort of a "7-11" of rural China -- spring up rapidly as the area's tourism
increases. All are signs of increased human impact in the biodiversity
hotspot.
Photo 7
The village near Wolong's panda center and museum is a hotbed of tourism, with local villagers creating panda art for building exteriors and selling everything from locally made wares to
American Pepsi to throngs of visitors.
Photo 8
MSU's Dr. Liu consults with Fun Chen
Bai, director of the Dalai Lake International Nature Reserve in Inner
Mongolia. Liu was invited to consult on how the remote reserve can balance
the environmental impacts of increased tourism with economic demands to
increase visitors.
Photo 9
An adult panda is delicately perched on a small branch and looks over the forest below at Wolong.
Photo 10
The Wolong reserve is a steep mountainous region but terraces are evident from the farming done in an area shared by local residents and giant pandas.
Photo 11
Sue Nichols, a science writer and public information representative for Michigan State University, feels the warmth of a hug from a panda cub at the Wolong reserve.
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