The Panda Cubs That Will Save Their Endangered Species | Panda Nursery Documentary

The giant panda clings precariously to life on this planet. Today there are less than 1,000 pandas left in the wild. But the fight to save the world's best-loved bear now has its first small and furry victories. These giant panda twins are part of a new generation of survivors. They've been raised not just by pandas, but humans, in an amazing new partnership called swap-raising. These twin bears owe their lives and the future of their species to the team at the panda nursery. At the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan, China, tension is running high at the breeding centre. Female giant panda, Ershao, has just gone into labour. Vet Wei Rongping shares a special bond with this panda. He has nurtured Ershao since she was rescued from the wild eight years ago. Ershao is just one of a handful of breeding females at the reserve. She's 11 years old and the best age to be a mother. Every care has been taken to make her comfortable. She can stretch out. In the wild, she'd be squeezing into a cubbing den in a cave or hollow tree. A lot hinges on today. With less than 1,000 pandas left in the wild, it's important that this birth goes well. Three hours after going into labour, her waters finally break. All bears have fairly short pregnancies and pandas take this to the extreme. Ershao's has lasted just over three months. Two hours later, we share a privileged moment. A cub has just been born. As Ershao goes to investigate, this cub faces its first trial. Any careless move could flick this tiny life away. The difference in size between mother and cub is the largest among true mammals. And panda mothers have been known to accidentally squash their tiny cubs. But Ershao has been a mother once before. Instinctively, she knows what to do. The tiny cub is blind, deaf, and blinded by her mother's presence. Many of its organs are not yet properly formed and must mature outside the protection of the womb. But this mother will not be alone in raising her baby. Humans will also play their part. Rongping urgently needs to check the health of this fragile creature. Although docile, Ershao was born in the wild. She may not welcome this human intrusion. As vet Rongping picks up the tiny cub, he begins a crucial partnership with his panda mother. They will parent this newborn together. Unable to regulate its body temperature, the cub is wrapped snugly for its journey to the panda nursery. A humble plastic bin carries hope for the future of a species on the brink of extinction. It's a healthy boy weighing just over 100 grams. That's less than one thousandth of its mother's weight. In human terms, that's akin to giving birth to a baby that could fit inside a matchbox. This tiny creature has a very strong cry. Like a newborn baby, it's helpless in every way and crying is its only lifeline. The incubator will be this cub's second home. They've set the temperature and moisture content to mimic the feeling of being cuddled by a panda mother. Back in the birthing den, something very special is happening. There's a chance this youngster may not be an only child. Ershao has gone into labor for a second time. Twin pandas are what everyone's hoping for. Like the other females at Wolong, Ershao mated naturally last spring, but she was also given artificial insemination. There's a good chance that she's carrying twins. Even in the wild, female pandas produce twins about half of the time. Ershao snacks on bamboo leaves to keep up her energy. Even though it makes up the bulk of their diet, bamboo is not very nutritious. This low energy diet may explain why panda mothers have such short pregnancies and give birth to such tiny young. Afternoon turns into evening. Then nearly eight hours after delivering her first twin, Ershao gives birth to a second. It's a moment of great celebration, but they'll need to work fast. Even though twins are common, giant panda mothers nearly always choose one twin to nurture, abandoning the other cub almost immediately. But again, Ershao allows a vet to take her baby. This twin is also a boy. For most of the 10 years that Rongping has been at the breeding center, there was little to celebrate in the birth of twins. Our success comes from piles of dead babies. This is because previously we had no success. The death rate for twins was very high. We had almost no success in raising twins. We had mixed feelings when a twin was born. On one hand, we hoped for twins so that we could learn how to raise them. On the other hand, we felt depressed when they didn't survive. Established in the early 1980s, the breeding center has raised more than 40 pandas. But the raising of twins had always been a problem. The abandoned twin raised in the nursery always died within days or weeks of being born. Three years ago came the breakthrough. Wolong staff embarked on a bold but risky strategy. If cubs needed their mother to survive, they would have to share her. They began the practice of swap raising panda twins. Starting from day one, Ershao's twins will lead a double life. They will spend equal amounts of time with their mother and in the nursery. So the odds of survival are even. The biggest killer of cubs is infection. The twins' immune systems are not yet fully developed, and only their mother's milk can boost this fragile immunity. Even though she was born in the wild, Ershao allows her milk to be expressed. Wolong staff were the first in the world to express panda milk without anesthetic. Now both cubs will get the benefits of Ershao's first milk, or colostrum, which is packed full of life-saving antibodies. For the first week, this precious fluid will be added to the formula that each cub receives in the nursery. They'll be fed more than a dozen times every day. In the past, there was little chance of abandoned twins surviving. Now, with swap raising, Berongping is hopeful these twins stand a fighting chance. Wolong Nature Reserve is the largest panda reserve in China. 150 pandas roam wild here. That's over one-tenth of the entire world population. In the heart of the reserve lies the breeding center. It's home to over 40 pandas, and vet Wei Rongping knows every one by name. I have worked with pandas for 10 years. In the beginning, I just saw them as animals. Now, after so many years, I regard them as my friends. Zhongzhong isn't well today. I know every panda's temperament. I know whose eyebrows are longer, who has got lines and patterns on his nose, and who has black marks at the corner of his mouth. Whenever I see a panda, or the photo of a panda, I can tell who he or she is. I know everything about every panda here. The twin cubs that Rongping is helping to raise are just three days old. So far, both are in good health. This week, each cub is spending two days in the nursery, and then two days with their mother. Ushhao attends constantly to the needs of her tiny cub. From all the animals I have seen, she is the greatest mother in my opinion. Whenever the baby cries, the mother can tell whether he is hungry, cold, or wants to relieve himself. The newborns are so immature, they are unable to toilet themselves. Ushhao uses her tongue to gently stimulate the genital area, so that the cub can pass urine and faeces. Back in the nursery, human carers must do the same. Although thankfully, they don't have to perform the task in quite the same way as the panda mother. We have a 24-hour watch on the babies. Every day, we weigh the babies, the amount of food they eat, the amount of faeces they pass. The form and colour of the faeces can tell us how well their digestive system is working. There's an unwritten rule at the breeding centre, that cubs are only named once they've survived to six months. For now, the cubs are simply called number one and number two. Eco-tourism is on a roll in Sichuan. Over 50,000 tourists visit the Wolong Nature Reserve every year. They come to enjoy giant pandas in their natural habitat and contribute significantly to the local economy. Today, the new arrivals are a big hit. Number two is just four days old, and already his fur coat is thickening. With tiny pink ears, he's beginning to look more like a bear. While giant pandas may be the world's best-loved bears, the irony is that we humans are their greatest threat. In the last 300 years, China's rapidly expanding human population has pushed the giant pandas back into six remote mountain locations. Worse still, many sub-populations are isolated from one another, so there's a growing danger of inbreeding amongst wild pandas. And even in these protected places, there are people. 4,000 villagers live within the reserve. Descended from Tibetan, Chang, Hui and Han ethnic groups, they've lived here for generations. Like the pandas, they too rely on this land for their survival. The challenge for Wolong is to find a way for people and pandas to coexist within the reserve. At 11 days old, number one's black and white markings are already emerging, and his fur is thickening. Whenever a cub is in the nursery, it's an opportunity to give him a thorough health check. I'll pay attention to the change in their cry, body colour, body hair, bone growth and weight. I'll observe whether they have enough energy or not. We consider a baby healthy if it grows at the same pace as one raised by a panda mother. The demands of the newborns are so constant that Wei Rongping is on 24-hour call and lives at the centre for much of the year. He sees his own two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Zifei, for only a handful of days each month. From my point of view, working with pandas, I need to spend a lot more time communicating with the animals so that I can understand them better. I spend much more time with panda babies than with my own daughter. For the first three weeks, Ershao cuddles the baby in her care constantly to keep it warm. Mothers in the wild rarely leave their dens at this critical time and can go without food and water for up to three weeks. But at the centre, food is always on hand. Plenty of food means that Ershao remains strong and tips the balance in favour of the twin's survival. The centre grows some of its own bamboo, but vast quantities are needed to feed the resident pandas. With each panda eating up to 18 kilos daily, the centre needs a staggering 1,000 kilos of bamboo every day. A group of local farmers is also employed to harvest umbrella and sweet bamboo and bring it up the mountain to the centre. Giant pandas have evolved in their own unique way. They're actually carnivores that have become vegetarian. But because their stomachs aren't built for processing plant food, they can only digest about a fifth of what they eat. So adult pandas must spend most of their day feeding. Although not designed as vegetarians, pandas have adapted to their diet in a number of clever ways. They've developed broad, flat molar teeth and massive jaw muscles ideal for crunching bamboo. But the most clever adaptation lies in the giant panda's paws. Pandas can pick up and hold things. They've evolved their own version of an opposable thumb. It's actually an elongated wrist bone, which works in conjunction with the fingers to grasp and hold on to bamboo stems. That's why pandas can feed in their characteristic sitting pose. Now nearly three weeks old, the bond between the cubs and their surrogate parent is growing daily. And like any dad, Rongping delights in those special moments. They are the same as me. I think of them as my friends. I see the panda cubs as human kids because they really do have human feelings. Ershao is always alert to the needs of her tiny baby. In the rest of the bear family, cubs must find their mother's teeth to suckle. But this is not the case with giant pandas. Ershao actively engages in suckling her cub. At the moment, she's feeding number one more than a dozen times a day. Back in the nursery, number two is now old enough to be fed outside the incubator. In the past, bottle feeding contributed to the high death rate of panda babies. Cubs often died of pneumonia after milk was accidentally taken down the windpipe into their lungs. Now changes to nipples and holding positions means those days are a distant memory. The cubs are swapped regularly so that neither is rejected by Ershao. Tonight, number two is going back to his mother. But first, Rongping must take number one away from the den. The vet can never take Ershao's cooperation for granted. Now that the cubs are three weeks old, they'll be swapped every 10 days. This is always a critical moment. Ershao hasn't seen number two for nearly a week. The partnership between humans and panda mother is working well so far. It's important to check that both cubs are growing at the same rate. In the past, often one would be much smaller than the other. But both now weigh nearly a kilo. In just three weeks, they're a staggering 10 times their birth weight. While number two gets instant attention from Ershao, in the nursery, number one must make his needs clearly known. A new formula has also contributed to the dramatic turnaround in cub survival. In the past, panda babies were fed on a cow's milk formula, which was hard to digest. Now, thanks to a partnership with San Diego Zoo, cubs are fed a new formula based on a recipe for American black bear's milk. This closely mimics the high fat content of giant panda milk and is easily digested by the babies. The cubs are still incredibly vulnerable, but they've made it through their first month of life. Over the next four weeks, legs begin to strengthen, eyes begin to open, but toileting still needs outside assistance. The work is constant and exhausting, but everyone is convinced it's worth it. Even when a cub is with his mother, Rongping visits regularly to make sure it's in good health. But Ershao isn't in the mood to cooperate. But the vet is persistent. Rongping knows from hard experience how vulnerable these babies still are. Ten years ago and fresh from vet school, he lost one of the first cubs he ever raised at Wolong. He died at nine months. The reason was enteritis. He was a big, active guy. He played with me every day. We became very close. And suddenly he was gone. I felt very sad. I'd raised this panda to so big and then he dies. It felt like losing a friend. Although the learning curve has been steep and sometimes traumatic, Wolong now has the best breeding and cub survival rates in the world. But these twins will only thrive if they both get the care and attention they need from their mother. Winter is enveloping the landscape of southwestern China. The twins are 11 weeks old and weigh a hefty five kilos. They're putting on about half a kilo every week. They're toddlers. And like all toddlers, cooperating with the adults isn't high on their list of priorities. And it's not just the humans that are finding the cubs more than a handful. The incubator is no longer big enough to house the increasingly active cubs. Rongping prepares a playpen, which will become the cubs' new home whenever they're in the nursery. It's a good place to strengthen leg muscles and practice motor skills. But maybe that can wait until tomorrow. Now nearly three months old, the cubs' first teeth have begun to appear. Teething coincides with a decided interest in the green stuff. Bamboo may not be very nutritious, but it's available all year round. Scientists think that this might be one reason why giant pandas have no need to hibernate. Others speculate that it's bamboo's lack of nutrition, which means these bears can't build up enough fat reserves to sustain them through a winter and hibernation. But in fact, bamboo isn't always this plentiful. That's because this plant has a very unusual life cycle. Bamboo normally multiplies by spreading its roots, but once every few decades, a particular species will flower. And that's a time of huge danger for pandas. When bamboo blossoms, it bears seed, withers, and dies. In colder regions, it can take as long as 20 years to grow back again. And if it's the only species in the region, then local pandas are left stranded and starving. When two species began flowering in these mountains in 1983, the result was catastrophic. In the decade that followed, 140 pandas died of starvation. Others were rescued and brought to centres such as Wolong. And today, Wolong continues to give emergency treatment to wild pandas. This female has been brought in from Lushan County. She's suffering head injuries after a fall. Her back legs are paralysed, so she's been unable to feed. There's little they can do but make her comfortable. With so few pandas left in the wild, even the loss of one is a blow to everyone at the centre. Ershao has remained indoors with her cubs for their first 12 weeks. Only now is she allowed out for her first stroll in the neighbourhood. In the wild, mothers leave their cubs at a much earlier age in order to forage for food. Left by himself, number one takes his very first steps. Ershao now takes time to catch up with the neighbours. Although considered solitary animals in the wild, pandas socialise in their own peculiar way. They use scent markings to communicate. Scent messaging is the panda equivalent of email. A scent communicates a panda's identity, when the message was left, and information such as who's more dominant or who's ready to mate. Part of Wolong's breeding success has been to recognise the importance of scent marking and to give pandas ample opportunity to investigate each other's smells. The slippery floor in the playpen makes learning to walk more like learning to skate. Weighing in at seven and a half kilos, number one quite literally tips the scales. Meanwhile, number two is still struggling to come to terms with bamboo. Finally, he gets his first taste. Most cubs start nibbling at about six months, so at just four months old, he's ahead of his game. But success is short and sweet. Although he's had his first taste, bamboo won't become his main diet until he's 15 months old. The cubs are needing more and more stimulation in the nursery. Oh, you scratched me, little lad. The best playmates for the twins are each other. It's a good way for the two brothers to finally get to know one another. Swap raising has meant they've rarely spent any time together since the day they were born. The twin boys are growing at the same speed. In previous years, there were huge differences with our twin cubs, but it looks as if they were brought up together. Play fighting is an important life skill for these youngsters. In the wild, adult males must know how to challenge and compete. It becomes a vital skill in the breeding season, when they must fight for the right to mate with a female. At the centre, all cubs over four months old are fed milk from bowls rather than bottles. It's a skill that our cubs now need to learn. After a bit of encouragement, number two has no difficulty with the prospect. But it's a different story with number one. And no amount of coaxing can win him round. Bowl drinking lessons are put on hold for another day. Now that the cubs can toilet themselves, they're about to go back to their mother for full-time care. This is a critical moment in the swap raising strategy. A shark has never had both cubs to look after at once. The main reason for giving them back is to let them pick up behaviour from their mother. If the babies spend most of their time with humans, they would mistakenly regard us as their own kind and become reliant on us. The behaviours they learn from us will not help their future survival in the wild. A shark must now look after two energetic cubs, day and night, on her own. This will be a huge task for this panda mother and one which would rarely occur in the wild. Unable to even hold both cubs at the same time, she copes by devoting herself only to number two. Having come so far, there's now the very real danger that number one will be rejected by her shark. It's the height of winter in Wolong. The starkness of the frozen landscape mirrors the markings of the pandas themselves. Some speculate that their black and white colouring may be camouflage on these dappled snowy slopes. Others think that panda markings have a very different purpose. It may be that these bold statements of black and white make it easier for pandas to spot one another from far away. That way, these usually solitary creatures can avoid each other for most of the year, but find each other during mating season, which is now just one month away. Meanwhile, family bonding is not going well. Ershao is still giving most attention to number two. Worse still, number one seems unhappy in the den and doesn't want to be with his mother either. Your mother doesn't want you. Your mother is on the other side. The bamboo is delicious. You need to take care of yourself. You need to look for your mother yourself. Finally, Rongping takes number one back to the nursery for the evening. It's the place where this cub feels most at home. We are now facing a dilemma. We want to establish a good relationship with the pandas because this makes our work with them easier. On the other hand, because we want to return them to the wild, we need to reduce human influences as much as possible. After three days, he tries once more to reintroduce number one to his family. This is the ultimate dilemma of shared care. Number one is more bonded to his human carer than his mother. And makes his feelings very clear. But Rongping is patient and persistent. And after hours of coaxing, there seems to be a breakthrough. But it's early days. Rongping will need to watch the family very closely over the coming week. Outdoors, adult giant pandas are also working on their relationships. With breeding season fast approaching, they shake off their usually docile natures and become decidedly frisky. This female is Fei-Fei. She's been put in one of the larger enclosures with potential mate Jean-Jean. It's a chance for them to get to know each other before the mating season actually begins. There's a huge increase in scent marking at this time of year. Females scent mark to advertise their fertility. Female urine contains chemical cues which let males know how ready they are to mate. Males scent mark for territorial reasons. In the mating season, they must compete with other males for the right to mate with a female. They use scent marking to let other males know how big and strong they are. Since larger animals will leave their scent marks higher up a tree, male pandas go to extraordinary lengths to exaggerate their height. Even doing handstands to get their scent as high up the tree as possible. As the days progress, female behavior is becoming increasingly bizarre. A sure sign that they're about to come into heat. Walking backwards and rolling indicate that a female is nearing her most fertile period. Male pandas in captivity seldom mate naturally and many show little or no interest in sexual activity. So most breeding centers rely on artificial insemination. But not so at Wollong. Although artificial insemination is also used, most females mate naturally every single year. Roomy enclosures with lots of trees to climb and socializing like this before mating season even begins are the secrets to Wollong's success. At last, after three uncertain weeks, the family has bonded. Oshao is now more accepting of number one and he too seems more settled in the family den. The irony is that they only have a few short weeks left together. Breeding season is now in full swing. All breeding males and females have been moved back into smaller pens so that mating activity can be controlled and monitored. Potential mates have been housed next to each other so that they can continue to interact through the cage mesh. Feifei has now stopped scent marking. It's a good indicator that she's about to ovulate. Timing is everything in panda mating. If the pair are introduced too soon and Feifei isn't ready, they could be fighting. In the past, some females have been seriously hurt. Too late and there's the danger of missing Feifei's most fertile period. With females ovulating just once a year, it's critical that they get the timing just right. Rongping decides that now is the time. Male Dadi is introduced into the pen. But it's a disaster. Dadi is too aggressive. Rongping must separate them before Feifei is seriously injured. The match hasn't worked. There's now the very real danger that Feifei won't become pregnant this season. The cubs are enjoying their last few weeks with their shower. Cubs in the wild normally stay with their mother until they're 18 months old. But here, cubs are taken away at six months so that their mothers can be mated once again. Although Wolong is having good success, worldwide, pandas in captivity are not breeding well enough to maintain their own numbers. So it's vital that all breeding females mate every year. But time is running out for Feifei. Female giant pandas are only on heat for a handful of days. Rongping has put her next to another potential mate, Shimul. All hopes are now pinned on this match going well. The signs are looking good. Shimul has done a good job. The duration of the mating is pretty long. It's a success. We've waited all day for this. It's one day to the spring festival, or Chinese New Year. In just under a week, the cubs will begin their new lives away from their mother. They're thriving. And since they're nearly six months old, they can be given names. Number one will now be Linhe, which means forest river. And number two will be Linhai, forest sea. Fitting names for animals that desperately need more forests if they are to survive. It's New Year's Eve. Families all over China are farewelling the year of the snake and welcoming the year of the horse. Rongping's wife, Xihong Mei, and daughter, Zifei, have traveled the rough mountain roads to be with him at Wolong. It's the biggest night of the year. And the first time since they were married that they've been able to spend New Year's Eve together. Tonight is the last night that the cubs will spend with their mother. Tomorrow, they will go to a new enclosure. And Ershao will be prepared for this year's mating season. The cubs' new enclosure is given a last-minute spring clean with the help of daughter, Zifei. Finally, it's time to separate the family. These are the last few moments that Ershao will ever spend with her cubs. Six months of tireless mothering must now come to an end. Ershao, we're taking your babies away today. We'll say bye-bye to you. He's running away by himself. Let's go. Time to leave. For Lin He and Lin Hai, it's a whole new world out there with new skills to learn, like living outdoors and foraging for their own food. The ultimate aim of our research is to return the pandas to their original habitat, to increase the number of pandas in the wild. What we are doing now is to put them into a semi-wild environment. Then we can reduce the amount of food we provide and reduce our human influence on them. In this way, we help them to adapt to a life in the wild. While the twins are adapting well to their newfound freedoms, Ershao has been upset and has been calling for her babies. But today she's moved into a large enclosure and is settling into life without the cubs. In three years from now, Lin He or Lin Hai may be one of the cubs chosen to return to the wild, the place where their mother was born. They will need to learn how to survive in a world without humans. The days in the panda nursery are now behind them and ahead lies the biggest adventure of them all.