The Land Of The Pandas (Panda Documentary) | Real Wild

[Music] hidden in the mountains on the border with Vietnam is one of China's best-kept treasures this is the story of an evolutionary enigma a living fossil that has captivated us for over a century the giant panda today we are going to take you on a surprising journey into the heart of the giant pandas natural habitat and reveal what we can do to save this extraordinary and complex animal this rare creature receives star treatment around the world a measure of how much the Panda has captured public imagination [Music] an icon of rapidly expanding China the Panda has also become the symbol of the world's endangered species [Music] known as Papa panda professor pan when she has spent 15 years of his life among the wild pandas observing and studying their behavior [Music] today he's returning to panda territory to evaluate the future prospects of the wild Panda in the heart of say chuan we followed the work of scientists and caregivers in a breeding center they work night and day to guarantee the pandas survival [Music] this is the story of a fragile world [Music] the millennial treasure that has yet to reveal all of its secrets [Music] on May 12 2008 an earthquake of magnitude 8.3 on the Richter scale struck this h1 region in western China in three minutes entire cities were wiped off the map this is where our story begins the earthquake struck the very heart of the land inhabited by giant pandas for those living in the wild the earthquake was a catastrophe but for the 63 pandas taking part in the first conservation program the disaster revealed the extraordinary commitment of their caregivers despite being at the center of the earthquake and its hundreds of dangerous aftershocks these men and women risk their lives to save the pandas caring for them as they would their own children the story of how this animal went in less than a century from hunters prey to stardom is truly extraordinary [Music] for biologists this creature which looks more like a giant teddy bear than a wild animal remains a genuine mystery a species with such a fragile and unique Constitution shouldn't have survived under the evolutionary law of nature but it has survived for more than eight million years at first the panda bear was carnivorous like most of its bear cousins and then suddenly it lost its taste for meat that was over four million years ago now a vegetarian the Panda began to chew bamboo pounds and pounds of bamboo each day coincidentally at that time China was covered in bamboo but their hunger for the plant would eventually cost them dearly when humans arrived in China less than 100,000 years ago they began to do what they always do make room for themselves for the pandas tragedy lay ahead as their food supply began to disappear so did they and since then century after century the territory of the giant pandas has only declined if deforestation continues at its present rate the Panda will soon join the long list of extinct species [Music] here in the SE chuan capital of chengdu population 14 million we are far from the last natural habitats of the wild pandas yet it is in this urban environment that a team of veterinarians has succeeded in breeding pandas in captivity hoping one day to reintroduce them into the wild it's 11 o'clock in chengdu sheltered from the bustle of the city a team of young trainers and vets care around the clock for a new generation of baby pandas born at the center three months earlier chen min and zhang hole take turns without a break every step is made according to plan each operation are deering to an extremely rigorous protocol Engel messed up even 30 years ago China decided to create three centers like this one the Chengdu Center is the largest and most important built in 1987 the center began its work with six pandas found in the wild today it is home to 108 giant pandas all born within its walls [Music] what come on you twins stay together come here I'm gonna help there you go one after the other I know you two are real chatterboxes are you hungry are you hungry is that it spent more time taking care of pandas than my own son luckily my parents are there to help out they bring him back and forth to school there are a lot of us taking care of the pandas someone has to be here 24/7 I've become really attached to them it's like they're my own children I have a hard time leaving them when it's time to go each panda is given over 100 pounds of bamboo each day to avoid nutritional deficiencies chen min prepares dietary supplements fortified with vitamins and minerals [Music] [Applause] who Roy supervises the collection of a sperm sample as scientific director she is responsible for achieving the Chengdu centre's primary goal to control the reproduction of giant pandas in captivity this is no easy task female pandas are only in heat two or three days a year in case no male is available at the time the center keeps a supply of sperm frozen in liquid nitrogen after a sample is taken and before the insemination who wrong examines the sperms viability under a microscope in order to detect when females are in heat or if they are suffering from the slightest problems of health or development each animal is subjected to thorough and regular medical examinations they grow used to them [Applause] blood samples are taken so frequently that the pandas are comfortable with the procedure at 10 mins request the panda sits and calmly extends its paw long enough for the veterinarian Yang and his assistant to draw three small vials of blood this surprising conditioning allows the team to avoid general anesthesia which always comes with a risk natural couplings account for more than half the births of giant pandas [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the 1980s and when she a professor at the University of Beijing was the first to sound the alarm in order to unravel the mystery of the giant pandas and to find ways to better protect them when she decided to travel to their last refuge he spent 17 years in the mountains of came name day after day he earned the trust of the small population of wild pandas growing closer to them he was even able to witness a birth he named the female Jojo and her baby see Wang hope Jojo became his favorite panda he lived by her side for the next 10 years and was present for six births throughout China professor pan became known and respected as Papa panda thousands of kilometers south of kin Ling in Chengdu we're back with Professor pan today he is 74 years old and has retired to the Vietnamese border far from the pandas he is now observing and working to protect the white headed Langer a species even more endangered than the giant panda but much less discussed in the media but one cannot forget an animal as endearing as the Panda every night he works on a new book that gathers the results of his 17 years of research in Ken Ling Jojo Jojo this female here is glgl bigger hider and her first baby was named who Zhi Bao hotel for Hong Kong Ching Leela are seen in our protection of the environment hasn't changed much in the last 27 years sadly the pandas territory isn't continuous it looks like small islands even if deforestation is out Lord now human activity goes on people harvest rice and corn near the border of the pandas territory Cecina he elite singles a bengali today the two main panda territories are very small they barely cover 700 square kilometres and they're mainly home to female sleeping bag on me tacit isola to its hyung single whopping Jia Jia on an eroding cliff professor pan has undertaken a paleontological dig and made an incredible find among the numerous mammal skeletons he discovered the fossilized skull and teeth of an ancestor of the giant panda we discovered this skull deep in the cave has so walkins it belonged to an ancestor of the panda more than 2 million years old back then pandas were living all over China doesn't take a close look at this tour the incisors are here and we can see the premolars at the back that has immense there are little damaged by 188 million years ago the panda evolved into a type of bear about the size of this small dogs on the basalt it's a man every night a small group of langurs comes to sleep on these limestone cliffs where they're safe from predators professor pan is the first person to show an interest in their fate just as he did 30 years ago for the giant panda [Music] in the morning we find professor pan in the company of another endangered species they're called the pandas of the sea flight Eileen Alden Sonny and yo koala Leland a Canadian I came here for the first time in 2003 to study the white dolphins my relationship with the dolphins goes back to my childhood when I was 11 years old I was swimming far out in the ocean and suddenly a strong wind began to blow I didn't have enough energy to make it back to the beach I thought I was going to drown so I floated on my back to regain my strength all of a sudden something strange started pushing my body from underneath this or cannula to dolphins had brought me back to the beach since then I've done everything I can to protect them although the professor might think of his days in kindling is over it's not easy to forget the story that linked him to the pandas thousands of kilometers away one of his former trackers suddenly needs his help one of the historic sites where wild pandas could still be observed has just been devastated by torrential rains an entire face of the mountain collapsed in the same location where pan had once conducted his research since then no one has seen the pandas where are they did they survive the professor decides to travel there in person to survey the damages he reunites his old team of trackers they set out on an expedition to assess the situation and find out if the wild pandas are still in the region there is much at stake since the catastrophe no one has laid eyes on the Panda it's the middle of March mating season now is when the pandas descend into the valleys in search of young bamboo shoots it's the best time to spot the pandas and make contact with them it is also in March that pan was able to take his best photographs during his research during the rest of the year pandas are solitary shy of humans and discrete one can walk right past them without realizing it it's the first day of the expedition the first day in the reserve since the disaster today pan is too old to explore the steep slopes of King Ning he stays back at the base camp so as to not slow down the team of trackers they will be his eyes and ears and bring him daily reports of their observations after hours of walking they are alarmed by what they see where numerous pandas once made their nests dead animals are an indication of the devastation of what were once bamboo forests woman Joliette rumbles you know Sheila my house was destroyed Oh Shawn like honey I haven't come back here since the catastrophe I didn't know what it was going to look like it's impressive you dimensions I saw my younger the river washed away all the bamboo growing on the banks modern Kurdish idea that must have had an impact on the pandas who used to come eat here mother hold on da ye shall hunt ah follow me we're getting deeper in last year you could see some up there the day has not been fruitful they have just found a few marks on a tree sadly too old to be of any use a lone takun is disturbed in his sleep by the team night falls on the valley which remains tragically silent pan remembers how long it took him to find the pandas and hopes that his team's patience will soon pay off [Music] usually around this time of year the valley echoes with the COS of females and the sounds of males fighting each panda carefully marks trees leading behind a strong odor that serves as an identity card [Applause] males converge on the territory of a female in heat and fight violently to win her favor meanwhile the female sits perched on a tree awaiting the outcome of the battle the loser of the fight must now retreat and let the dominant male ensure his offspring far from the steep slopes of kindling the Chengdu Center is preparing to send two of its young residents to the other side of the world Zhang Hao is in charge of preparing one one and one Z for their visit to the Bauval Zoo in France [Music] mo Chou she's called Wan WAN and he Swansea they were born in 2008 I'm now certain that in banja just after the Wolong earthquake chemistry mmm those women in banja and they're in full health lessons yeah we call them the children of the earthquake so all right you got you mean teaching papa I mean you got banished out for you that you don't bother they're not related that's why we put them together I mean emotion once you kinda you Hawk would you clean your funds they have very different personalities but they get along well because they grew up together but they show you you compete compared to Wan WAN Swansea is much more discrete honey it's it's yeah Julian Road of the law the director of the bova zoo has made the trip to collect his pandas following eight years of difficult negotiations and five million euros spent on state-of-the-art facilities he wouldn't have missed this for the world since the 1960's the chengdu research base of giant panda breeding has been commissioned by the china zoo association to loan pandas to the United States Japan South Korea Spain the United Kingdom France and other countries in order to cooperate on research into the international protection of breeding the pandas are loaned out for a period of ten years with the possibility of an extension in accordance with the contract signed by both parties all funds must go towards the Chinese government's research into panda breeding and habitat protection yeah it's okay yes whoever was in the 1980s and 1990s the giant panda was regarded as perhaps the country's best ambassador a symbol of friendship between the Chinese government and host countries [Music] [Applause] with a police escort the two pandas Wan WAN and yuan see crossed the city of Chengdu heading towards the International Airport where a cargo plane has been especially chartered for the occasion today beneath all the commotion renting out pandas is more than just a question of money it's also an insurance against epidemics and natural disasters like the 2008 earthquake the rent money can now finance research into techniques for breeding and raising the pandas as well as new experiments and reintroducing the animals into the wild a welcome party fit for head of state is awaiting our ambassadors after spending 12 hours in a chartered flight Wan WAN and juanzi arrive at their final destination the zoo parque de boville in France the first panda to leave China was sent but after its death to the Paris museum in 1869 it was a sensation and for 60 years it whet the appetites of every big-game hunter who saw it it was Ruth Harkness who in December 1936 brought the first living panda to the United States naming it Soo Lin meaning a little bit of something very cute Soo Lin immediately made headlines first in America and soon across the world a star was born [Music] this first panda brought outside of China would die two years later at the Chicago Zoo but it marked the beginning of a long series of pandas being taken abroad from China a panda mania swept the globe to the point that in 1961 the World Wide Fund for Nature chose the Panda as its symbol [Music] depending on her physical condition the female is able to delay the implantation of the fetus she can also control the date at which she will give birth three to five months later [Music] exhausted by the pain of her contractions the female seeks positions that will provide relief [Music] careless and blind the baby weighs 100 grams and measures less than 20 centimeters its first black spots will appear in a week and its eyes will not fully open for the next two months sometimes female pandas give birth to twins in nature sadly the weaker of the two rarely survives but at Chengdu it is immediately cared for by the veterinarians [Music] it's been several days since our team began exploring the kindling mountains for signs of panda life Eon oversees the operation this young tracker was born in these mountains he grew up following his father and professor pan on their expeditions he knows every nook and cranny [Music] on an unexplored slope the first signs of life begin to appear [Music] [Applause] suddenly in the trees above the bamboo the trackers noticed the presence of snub-nosed monkeys they have golden fur and are found only in the mountains near Tibet these monkeys often share a territory with giant pandas the members of the team suddenly feel like they're on the right track look how many there are then hue one xeam makes a new discovery panda droppings there are a few weeks old but it's the first sign that pandas have returned to the valley at the foot of a large rock he notices a strange marking on a tree eighth year there are lots of teeth marks these tracks here are more recent it's a male he looks fierce panda hair now that the zone has been identified the trackers try a new technique they play recordings of mating calls hoping to lure nearby males [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] are you on I heard it some of the summit in the cries we've heard must have come from here can you hear me yes yes the cry of the Panda is fading he must be on the move it's getting further away look they're hungry chips right dream yet they may look there's a panda right there Harry doll huh moving more this way honey climbed up a tree that one over there that's a female wait wait he's running now walk that's a female look straight ahead right in front he's on the other side that's a female go to the Chamonix climbing back down you can see the Sun reflecting off her fur pandas are back but this is great and Dana particle is another paddler for Daniel did you come down to the right or left yoga right side the team decides to relay their position to Professor pan so that he may come join them for the professor it's the signal he's been waiting for he knows the region like the back of his hand and he'll only need a half day's walk to join the trackers [Music] this is really wonderful takin's with yellow coats are only found in this region [Applause] AHA let's upend Ichi poor tompa holy passion law yep all exceed ha - an all-beef uncle since the hall when we protect these mountain forests we protect more than just the giant pandas we save other species like the snub-nosed monkey it's specific to this region - there are two groups here a big and a small one so I guess we'll trap in the big group there are three females and their children that's a standard family structure for the snub-nosed monkey some Chindits ago she her leader [Music] once the team is reunited Jian takes the professor to where they spotted the Panda even if he doesn't witness them firsthand the professor can be reassured that they are out there not so far away he can feel their presence and with the slightest clues he can read the stories of their lives now the question is how many pandas have returned for mating season which is crucial to their survival nature - aah - oh my god well good Hadassah sip how big do you think this planter is but haha I think it's an adult you got some me on that and then the head this one is bigger this honey there it's about 35 centimeters please hunting I think it has to be bigger than the previous one yeah Oh be donating so much y'all don't either I don't see any traces of bamboo she's just chewed up leaves think that's a sign of good health see it doesn't smell bad my oats horror it smells like bamboo you want to smell it I may October Arzu Yahoo this summer nom - yo - Rashida to college you know the usual anybody said take a Tahoe it's already Sun huh sir 7:30 go koala again a koala ha the Panda goes like this he pulls a shoot toward in and eats all the leaves then he throws the shoots away there's a panda hair we can extract DNA from it to learn about his genealogy there's even a root on it there settings are all five and a half I'll say it Chagall aha his concerns about the disappearance of the pandas from the valley are finally lifted looking drawn after long days of walking the professor can now return to the village his heart less heavy [Music] before leaving the region professor pan visits the village school he is a great storyteller who loves to talk about his adventures and explain how the pandas live hello I'm here to talk to the kids about giant pandas [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello everyone please sit down oh hey do you know what I used to do in the mountains when I was young I watched the wild pandas have you ever seen a panda [Applause] really where okay that's very good but have you ever seen a wild panda in the mountains does anyone know how to draw a panda Nemo boy watch him mama I went you saw haha no one else knows how to draw a panda Ohio yours there's the eyes the nose these are some very happy pandas only one wish is that your lay I'm going to tell you the story of the Panda name I can't wash your mouth you've seen pandas living in breeding centers but did you know there are some living nearby in the mountains oh so was that you I what do you think is best for who wants to know they're not free [Music] in the wild female pandas only leave their dens one month after having given birth at that age the babies can be left unattended and the mother can finally eat as the little one grows the mother goes further and further away and for a longer time in order to respect this natural rhythm of daily separations and reunions at the center maybe spend time with their mothers for a few hours at a time but always under close surveillance [Music] [Music] [Music] valuation that we have to do everything we can to save them jumps and Juhani we can't sit here with our arms crossed and let them disappear once we've mastered the reproduction and have enough births then we can begin introducing them back into the wild and give them their freedom that's what I'm trying to do with my work usual : [Music] : sisters phonetic oh and teacher Oakland coach unit I must go Baba karma solution do you treat okay hot real hot and sour they all get hot really hot a casual no fan gratuity : independents are a national treasure here they receive the best care we give them the best food but I think we went a little too far we're now trying to make up for our mistakes today we're starting a return to the wild program the goal is to reduce the amount of artificial care in order to arouse their wild instincts a new hundred and thirty-three hectare Center just opened in dojang yang even though it's not very big much of its land is very similar to nature we've already sent six pandas to live there in semi freedom there has always been a lot of controversy surrounding giant pandas like when they're sent overseas in captivity but I think we've managed to make progress despite all that I'm now very optimistic about what reproduction centers can do for the wild population with the amount of babies born each year in the Centers China will soon be able to strengthen its wild populations but the pandas also need enough space to live in peace thanks to the early recommendations of Professor pan there are today 17 natural reserves spread throughout the Panda territory providing more opportunities for them to meet and reproduce perhaps one day a new generation helped along by the hand of man will return to repopulate these mountains and ensure the survival of this fragile species [Music]

Channel: Real Wild

Views: 761,208

Keywords: nature documentary, full documentary, documentary movie, wildlife documentary, national geographic, Nature documentaries - topic, Animals - topic, planet earth, david attenborough, Full Animal Documentary, wild animals, wild animal, panda, panda documentary, panda documentary national geographic, panda documentary for kids, panda documentary idubbbz, panda documentary 2018, panda documentary 2017, panda documentary china, bear documentary, baby panda, baby panda documentary

Id: 9fmn8I2Gs6w

Length: 45min 34sec (2734 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 31 2018