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Pandamonium ...
New UCSD Extension program offers chance to travel to China to work with largest concentration of pandas in the world

Ioana Patringenaru | Feb. 22, 2011

Emily Loui, a UCSD Extension staff member, feeds bamboo bread to a panda at the BiFeng Gorge Giant Panda Research Center in China's Sichuan province. .
Photos courtesy of UCSD Extension

Do you want to help study pandas in their natural habitat in China? Do you want to feed them and care for them? Well, now you can, thanks to a new program run by UC San Diego Extension.

"Building Bridges to China" will take about 15 volunteers from July 2 to 12 to the Sichuan province to live and work at a panda research station in the middle of the bamboo forest. The station houses the largest concentration of pandas in the world, with more than 100 animals. A small team of eight Extension students took the program’s first trip over winter break. Participants describe it as an incredible experience.

“I’ve never been happier,” said Alicia Graham, a San Diego resident who has been a volunteer at the San Diego Zoo since July 2009.

The goal of the trip is to work on animal conservation while introducing participants to Chinese culture, said Emily Loui, the manager of global volunteer services at UCSD Extension and the mastermind behind the project. Loui is holding an information session about the program 7 p.m. Friday at UCSD Extension.

For Graham, the trip was a reunion of sorts. While volunteering at the zoo, she had worked closely with Zhen Zhen, the fourth panda cub to be born in San Diego. At age 3, Zhen Zhen had to go back to China, as required by an agreement with the Chinese government.

A UCSD graduate student gets to spend some quality time with a panda.
Want to learn more about working with giant pandas in China?
Attend an info session about the Building Bridges to China program at 7 p.m. Feb. 25, 2010 at the UCSD Extension Complex. Click here for more information

Graham missed her. The panda’s name translates to twice the word “precious.” “And she certainly was that,” Graham said. When the zoo volunteer got to the BiFeng Gorge Giant Panda Research Center, Zhen Zhen recognized her. “She put her paw around my hand,” Graham said. “And I fed her carrots. It was absolutely amazing.”

Even the humblest tasks made a difference, Graham said. There are about 160 pandas living in zoos and breeding centers around the world and about 1,600 living the wild, according to the U.S. State Department. Within our lifetimes, they could become extinct in the wild, Graham said. Helping preserve their environment and teaching the public about conservation is key, she added.

In Sichuan, travelers worked in groups of two and were paired up with a keeper, who led them through their daily tasks. Some worked with younger pandas, others with full-sized adults.

“Being able to build a relationship with them was amazing,” Graham said. “They’re so intelligent. They learn so easily.”

Meanwhile, Marjorie Seybold, a former UCSD faculty member and IRPS alumna, had been to China three times before coming to the research station. She was looking for an experience that went beyond the traditional sightseeing—and got it. Seybold brought along her 15-year-old grandson, David Elizondo.

Seybold, David and the six other participants fed carrots and ground bamboo cakes laced with vitamins and minerals to the pandas; washed down cages; and helped conduct medical procedures and research surveys on the panda’s behavior. And, yes, the job entailed cleaning the panda’s droppings, which, luckily, are almost odorless, Seybold said.

Much of the research going on at the station focuses on panda breeding. For example, in the wild, female pandas give birth to twins and usually reject one of their cubs. Chinese researchers are trying to identify the stimuli that cause the mother to reject her baby, said Loui, the trip’s organizer. Researchers also swap cubs to make sure each gets maternal care. Scientists examine the pandas regularly.

Alicia Graham, a San Diego Zoo volunteer is reunited with Zhen Zhen, a female panda who was born at the zoo and moved back to Chine at age 3.
Photo courtesy of Alicia Graham

In addition to the time they spent at the research center, the UCSD Extension group got to venture out into the Chinese countryside and visited a local village. Loui had brought along a photo printer. She took snapshots of the villagers and handed them printouts. Two of the villagers, both in their 70s, had never had their picture taken before.

Several villagers were astounded that Seybold, the oldest in the American group, had all her teeth. She explained she brushes them every day. Loui said she now plans to conduct a bit of oral hygiene outreach during the July trip, by showing villagers how to brush and handing out toothbrushes. She also said she hopes to organize some school visits to talk about conservation and sustainability.

During the trips, travelers live in a renovated hostel on the grounds of the research station. It’s simple, but comfortable, Loui said. Accommodations include running water, showers and Chinese-style toilets. The latter turned out to be one of Loui’s biggest headaches while she was preparing for the trip. Chinese in rural areas don’t traditionally use toilet paper, she explained. And it turns out that getting 40 rolls of paper to a hostel in the middle of the bamboo forest can be quite a challenge, she added.

The hostel provides traditional Chinese food, though Loui taught local cooks how to make French fries and mashed potatoes. Breakfast might include a rice porridge soup, boiled eggs and steamed buns; lunch and dinner include rice and stir-fried vegetables and meat.

Fees run $1,000 for 10 days for full-time UCSD students and $1,410 for community members, including accommodations, meals, insurance, a donation to the research base and materials. Airfare is not included.

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