China Giant Panda Center Responds to Cub Suffocation Death: 'Never Seen This Before,' Will Conduct Thorough Investigation of Hazards
On April 10th, the China Giant Panda Protection Research Center announced: Female giant panda ‘Lu Lu Zi’ at the Shenshiping Base died due to strangulation caused by the climbing net wrapping around its neck. On the 11th, the Panda Center accepted CCTV reporter interviews and said:
Hotspot One: Has a similar situation happened before?
China Giant Panda Protection Research Center Professor Huang Yan introduced that he has been involved in giant panda scientific research for 30 years and has never seen such a situation. He also felt very surprised because whether it is wild giant pandas or captive pandas, sometimes they will fall from trees or from several meters high, and occasionally they will suffer injuries, but there has never been a case like this, it is truly a great sadness.
Hotspot Two: Why do giant pandas appear outdoors at night?
Regarding why giant pandas appear outdoors at night, Huang Yan introduced that the small door connecting the panda kindergarten enclosure and the exercise field is generally kept open, and the giant pandas are free to enter and exit. Keepers generally do not interfere too much. Through the study of giant pandas, whether wild giant pandas or captive pandas, besides daytime activities, they also have nighttime activity peaks. Just like human beings, giant pandas do not have the same sleep patterns, and sometimes their activity frequency is higher at night.
Hotspot Three: How to plug the gaps in giant panda safety management?
Regarding the death of ‘Lu Lu Zi’, the Panda Center expressed deep regret and responded: There were certain omissions in the giant panda’s safety management. Currently, the climbing net device at the accident site has been removed. Huang Yan said that the climbing net is beneficial to the giant panda's growth and development, but its safety should be paid more attention to and the requirements should be higher. On the same day, the four bases of the Panda Center had already begun to eliminate these hidden dangers, especially those with ropes, sharp objects, and other items that could affect the safety of the pandas, one by one, were checked.
Source: CCTV News
On-duty Editor: x
