Pandas In The Wild - Wildlife Animal Documentary

These secluded mountains lie in the eastern province of Shanxi. This range that divides North and South China is cloaked with lush forest, encouraged by the year-round mists and high rainfall. An ideal climate for bamboo, crucial to the panda's survival. Few people ever gain permission to enter this stronghold of the giant panda. But an international team was granted extraordinary access to film here for over two years. It is harsh but beautiful terrain, which the panda shares with other rare and spectacular species, like the golden monkey. This strangely beautiful creature is only found in this region of China. These monkeys spend most of their time gliding through the forest, and feeding on leaves and pine needles. Highly social, they live in large troops, some reportedly with as many as 600 members. Another treasure in the land of the panda is the crested ibis, one of the rarest birds in the world. Once common throughout Asia, the ibis disappeared as forests were cut and its habitat destroyed. Now it's estimated that just 70 of these rare birds are left in the wild. As the team climbs higher to reach the giant panda's habitat, the steep slopes make for hard going. The elusive panda spends much of its time above 8,000 feet, where bamboo is plentiful. Here, bamboo grows in thickets so dense that in some places the team is forced to slow their pace to a crawl. The climb pays off. The team finds the first clue that they are close to the panda's domain. Bamboo is such a hard plant to digest that panda droppings are still green and leafy. The second clue, telltale white panda hairs clinging to the bark of a tree. The team has reached an altitude of 12,000 feet. Now they must simply watch and wait. After watching in vain for over 10 days, the team has their first breakthrough. They are rewarded with the spectacular sight of a large wild male, weighing over 200 pounds. At first he seems nervous and hesitates, but then begins to move down the slope towards a lower stand of bamboo. Once secure in the dense undergrowth, he begins to feed. Giant pandas are biologically unique. Once carnivores, they gradually adapted to a vegetarian diet. But their digestive system is inefficient at breaking down bamboo, so they must eat huge amounts, 40 pounds a day. They have become one of the most specialized mammals in the world. As a result, they are completely dependent on this unique habitat to survive. The Qinling Range is a great place to live for a panda. Along with the precious bamboo, thousands of species of plants flourish here, many of them found nowhere else in the world. Following tracks that cut through the dense bamboo forests, the team hopes to increase their chances of finding another panda. They have an astonishing stroke of luck. A young panda is spotted napping in a tree. This is a sight very few will ever see. The giant panda in the wild, completely at ease, sprawled in a treetop. This youngster is probably about two years old, the age when pandas become independent and can sleep where they like. No one really knows how many of these amazingly beautiful creatures still survive in the wild. But of the estimated 1,600 giant pandas still left, up to 300 are believed to live here, in the Qinling Mountains. Scientists working in another area of the forest have spotted a panda heading towards the camera team, and radio ahead to alert them. Soon, a male is seen climbing up the slope. He makes frequent stops to sniff the tree bark. Scent marking is a critical means of communication for pandas. Tiny differences in scent might serve as a warning or signal a desire to mate. This scent has captured the male's interest. So intent is his focus that he seems remarkably unconcerned by a close encounter with humans. He passes close enough to knock over a piece of equipment without breaking stride. An hour later, a second panda follows in the footsteps of the first. He too seems to be in a hurry and passes the crew without a glance. This behavior is typically seen at the start of the breeding season, when males seeking a female gather at a specific area on the mountain ridge. The crew is determined to follow the pandas up to the rendezvous point, but finding the best route up the mountain is critical. It can take hours to cover even a small area on foot. They must struggle to reach the ridge on time. This is panda turf. The bamboo thickets are almost impenetrable, but the team's persistence pays off. They are in place just as a female panda approaches the ridge. She pauses beside a tree and sniffs the bark intently. In March at the start of the breeding season, female pandas rub against trees to scent mark the bark and to let male pandas know that they are ready to mate. The female uses her stubby tail like a brush to spread the scent. Scent marking is crucial in helping the solitary male and female pandas find each other in the dense bamboo forests. Hormones in the scent contain detailed information about the pandas' sex, health, and fertility. This behavior explains the trees with panda hair caught in the bark that the team encountered earlier. The scent of a female panda in heat may be carried quite a distance by the wind and attract several males to the area. A female panda comes into season for just 72 hours every year. With such a short period of fertility, the female needs to attract a selection of males from which to choose a healthy mate. Now she finds a comfortable vantage point to await her suitors. The next morning, the female is woken by the sound of a branch breaking close by. The scent marking appears to have done the trick. A male has tracked her down. He smells the trees close by, searching for clues as to her interest and to discover if any other males have been there before him. Encouraged, he begins to scent mark a nearby tree. This not only informs the female of his presence, more importantly, it also warns other interested males that he is the first suitor. Another male is also hot on the female's trail, and he too begins to scent mark. Now, the first male must fight off his competition. Pandas rarely vocalize except during mating and when competing over a female. Then they cry and roar, sending a threat at the highest level. They use their teeth and claws to bite and slash their opponent. The dominant male has vanquished his opponent and laid claim to the female. Evidence of the violent fight is scattered across the deserted battleground. During the struggle, saplings and large branches were snapped in two. In places, there are bloodstains. Sometimes the loser is badly wounded or even killed. Unfortunately for this male, his victory may be in vain. The female doesn't appear particularly interested in him. But she's coming down. Perhaps he might win her affections after all. The male vocalizes to court the female, but his excited cries don't meet with much success. She isn't very receptive. Reproduction in pandas in captivity is notoriously difficult. It seems that female pandas in the wild are equally choosy about their mates. Females only give birth to between five and eight cubs in their lifetime, so it's vitally important that they select the male with the best genes to pass on to their offspring. Despite the male's desperate cries, she rejects his advances. Things are definitely not looking good for her. Things are definitely not going according to plan. He's left in doubt about her intentions and makes a quick, if undignified, exit. But with less than three days of fertility left, this female must find another mate soon or lose the chance to produce a cub this year. By mid-April, the panda breeding season is at its height. The calls of male pandas courting females carry across the mountains. Since a female won't reach sexual maturity until age seven and only raises one cub successfully every three years, it's easy to understand why this tiny population is so vulnerable. Another female panda is being wooed by a male waiting impatiently on the ground below her. This looks promising. His cries have caught her attention and she seems interested. She climbs down towards the male, who continues calling to her. He circles the female, guarding her from the attentions of other males. Finally, he mounts her. Mating only lasts between 30 seconds and a minute, though he may mate with her several times. The male panda is still waiting. The victorious male defeated three others in order to win the female. The unsuccessful suitors are all still hanging around in the area, watching the proceedings. Eventually, they will give up hope and leave in search of other females. Giant pandas have become such specialized eaters that they only survive in the misty cold mountains where bamboo is the dominant plant. But that wasn't always the case. They evolved from early carnivores. The main lineage of giant pandas is believed to have branched off from bears around 22 million years ago. The panda's early ancestors first appeared 3 million years ago and roamed throughout China and Burma. But 18,000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene age, huge glaciers spread over the northern hemisphere, driving the giant panda's ancestors south. The survivors eventually reached the western highlands of Qinling, where they evolved into the species we know today. But their evolution from carnivore into herbivore brought some unique adaptations, such as an extra thumb. This additional thumb is really an extension of a tiny wrist bone covered with a fleshy pad. It gives the panda the use of six digits and increases its ability to manipulate bamboo. The panda's skull also changed as it evolved into a grass eater. Jaw bones strengthened to accommodate the massive muscles needed to crunch bamboo. These large muscles are what give the giant panda its endearing chubby cheeks. But now that the panda has adapted to such a specialized diet, its survival is entirely dependent on the preservation of its habitat. It is now the height of summer. Time to savor the rare blue skies and calm days in the mountains. Here, summer is also a time of torrential rains. There are more than 200 days of rain a year. The Qinling Mountains form a watershed between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys. The peaks block cold air from the north and soak up rain and mist like a sponge to release it in rivers and streams. It is this moist, wet climate which has allowed the evolution of the unique bamboo forests which in turn support the giant panda. Bamboo provides food for many other creatures apart from pandas. Some, such as this male golden pheasant, feed on young shoots. But bamboo forms only a small part of their diet. They share the forest with other strange creatures such as the golden token. It's perhaps best described as an odd cross between a moose, a cow, and a bear. They usually browse on woody plants and leaves and are also threatened by human pressures on forests. One of the strangest bamboo specialists is the bamboo rat, a small rodent that feeds on bamboo roots. It spends most of its time underground in an extensive network of burrows. Bamboo serves quite a range of satisfied customers. It's now late summer. If mating was successful, female pandas will soon be due to give birth and need to search out caves for shelter. Near this cave, there's evidence that something has been eating bamboo. The team doesn't have long to wait before the mysterious diner appears. This female takes a cautious look around before crawling through the narrow opening to the cave. Five months after mating, she has given birth and is nursing a tiny baby panda. She has given birth and is nursing a tiny cub. Apart from the mating season, pandas are usually solitary. Now the female is solely responsible for the cub. During the first few weeks, the mother cradles the cub in her arms, keeping it warm as she nurses it. Next to its full-grown mother, the infant seems shockingly tiny. Pandas weigh only about three and a half ounces, about the size of a kitten. This infant is just a few weeks old and already covered in fur. The cub needs to nurse up to 14 times a day for as long as 30 minutes each time. This uses up the mother's energy reserves, and despite the risks, she is forced to leave the tiny cub behind in the safety of the cave for three or four hours every day while she feeds on bamboo. Worried about disturbing the mother and infant cub, the team decides to wait a few weeks before returning to the cave. But when they return, they are concerned to find the panda cub lying alone at the cave entrance. A closer look calms their fears. Now a month old, the tiny cub is healthy and carefully protected by its mother in a bed of leaves. By the time it's 80 days old, it will have begun to crawl, but for the moment, all it can manage are weak little cries. This is the most vulnerable time for a baby panda, during the few hours when the mother has to leave it unprotected while she feeds. Still unable to crawl, the cub is left open. The cub couldn't be more exposed to danger. While adult pandas have few natural predators, panda cubs are vulnerable to attack from bears, wild dogs, even birds of prey. An eagle's keen vision might easily spot a cub as it lies exposed. It certainly isn't camouflaged. In this case, there's no real threat to the little panda, and its plaintive squawks finally reach its mother. The cub's cries are impossible for this mother to ignore, and she makes her way back to the nest to retrieve it. When the mother feels threatened, she will move the cub to a different location. Tenderly, she picks it up with her mouth and carries it to safety. In order not to disturb the mother at such a critical moment. The female carries the cub to the safety of a rocky crevice deep in a bamboo thicket to nurse. Pandas are known for lavishing care on their infants. For the first few weeks, the cub is so small and helpless that it needs its mother's undivided attention. Then, the team witnesses a sight rarely filmed in the wild. As the baby nurses, the mother gently cradles and rocks the cub in her arms. It is a wonderfully intimate moment between mother and cub. The cub will be completely dependent on its mother's milk until it's six months old, but it will continue to nurse and depend onto a solid diet of bamboo. The cub will only become fully independent between 18 months and two years of age. Then the young panda will leave its mother to establish its own territory and make its way in the world. But the young panda's future is uncertain. One of the rarest animals in the world, it has few natural enemies. They come from man. In China, people and pandas have lived together for thousands of years. But pandas only became known to the West relatively recently. In 1869, the French missionary Armand David obtained a panda's skin from a hunter. But it wasn't until the start of the 20th century that the first living panda was seen in the West. Giant panda pelts became prized items. Sadly, many pandas were shot by hunting parties in the 1920s. Today, the giant panda is a protected species, and killing a panda carries severe penalties. Yet the biggest threat to the panda's survival has been habitat destruction. As China's population grows and development pushes into the forest, the panda's habitat is being squeezed into larger and smaller pieces of land. As bamboo in one area flowers and then dies, pandas simply starve if their route to other healthy bamboo is cut off by man. At the beginning of the 20th century, giant pandas ranged throughout the Chinese highlands. Gradually, habitat destruction left only a few isolated populations in the Qinling Mountains, Sichuan, and Gansu. Since then, these populations have become fragmented, increasing the chances of genetic inbreeding. With the panda's survival in the wild threatened, fans from all over the world stepped in to help. American zoos, such as the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C., have helped to build the creature's near-iconic status and helped to raise public awareness of the threat to panda habitat. Now, with the support of zoos and wildlife funds, the Shaanxi government has created new panda reserves and five forested corridors that will allow the pandas to move freely from one area to another. It's hoped that the new pathways will once more allow the pandas to roam through today's fragmented forests to find the food they need to survive. Winter has come to the Qinling Mountains. The torrential rains of summer are replaced by blizzards and deep snow. Bamboo continues to grow even in the winter, so pandas do not need to hibernate. Giant pandas are well-adapted to the cold. Their fur consists of two layers, a dense layer of soft down, which traps air against the skin and provides insulation, and long, oily outer hairs, which are completely waterproof. Even so, for mothers with young cubs, the freezing temperatures can be a serious problem unless they can find shelter. The team follows in this female's footprints to see if she may have a cub. The tracks end in front of a large mound of fallen rocks. The team finds a mother and her cub hidden deep inside a crevice, protected from the worst of the weather and perhaps from predators. Here, the cub is warm and safe, tenderly guarded by its mother. This little cub appears to be about three months old and is close to being able to walk. Soon, the cub will be able to follow its mother when she goes to feed, but it won't start eating bamboo Mother's milk will still be the little panda's main source of food until it's about a year old. By now, its fur is beginning to give it some protection against the cold. Spring isn't far away, and it won't be too long until the little panda can venture into the outside world. It's now late March. At last, the snow begins to disappear from all but the highest slopes. Now, other young cubs are moving out of their caves, but this one is calling loudly for its mother. At over three months, it is ready to test its boundaries, but having been confined to the darkness of the cave for such a long time, the bright sunlight and forest sounds are overwhelming. It can hear its mother feeding close by, but is too frightened to make a move. It's hungry and continues to call, hoping she will come and feed it. Instead of coming to its rescue, the mother panda continues to climb higher up the slope. Now, the cub shows some daring initiative, realizing that its calls are having no effect. The cub begins to climb higher The cub begins to climb a tree in search of its mother. Considering that it has barely begun to walk, its ability to climb the tree is remarkable. Before long, the little cub will be ready to join its mother in exploring the splendor of their mountain forest home. Spring has arrived in the Qinling Range. The melted snow flows down the mountainside filling the rivers and streams. The days are getting longer. Sunlight coaxes the plants to bud and lures mothers and their new offspring out into the warmth. Before the year is out, panda cubs will begin eating bamboo and learning how to navigate the forest. For at least this year, panda cubs have lost the comfort of their mother's protection. But eventually, each young panda will leave to establish a territory of its own and to fulfill its destiny roaming the wild forests of Qinling and perhaps to one day have a cub of its own. With so few wild pandas left, each little cub is prized and a symbol of hope of the giant panda.