The first piece that immediately caught my eye was this one, detailing China’s effort to train captive pandas to thrive in the wild. Seeing as the animal was once severely endangered not too long ago, China has recently made it a top priority to restore the pandas’ habitats. While they work at this, the pandas have been under the careful watch of scientists and trainers as they take care of them until their homes are fully restored. This requires simulating the environment pandas usually thrive in and takes a lot of effort and creative thinking. It also makes for a fantastic photo opportunity for a journalist. Ami Vitale spent time in one of these panda communities and beautifully captured what it’s like for both the animals and the humans to coexist together towards a common good.
These photos are some of my favorites because they expertly capture the relationship between the scientists and the animals. While their main goal is to train the pandas to live on their own in nature, even the scientists cannot help but become attached to the adorable fluffy panda. The expression on the man’s face in both pictures as he snuggles with the cubs seems to say it all. It’s easy to imagine that all of the conservationists, especially him, would have a difficult time when saying goodbye when the time finally comes for the pandas to be released out into the wild. All of that can be garnered based solely on these two powerful photos, which speaks to the ability of the photographer.
These photos speak to the dedication of those trying to help out the formerly endangered species. These trained zoologists dress up in panda costumes every day to work with the cubs, teaching them how to survive in the wild and how to interact with others of their kind. In the last picture, a researcher even holds one of the panda’s natural predators to train the pandas to beware of cheetahs and other such dangerous carnivores out in the wild. This kind of devotion to the pandas’ well-being may seem silly to some, but to these passionate scientists it’s just a part of the job. These pictures effortlessly capture the love these researchers have for these animals and their unyielding commitment to helping the pandas.
Lastly, this photo shows the pandas finally being let back out into the wild after years of being under the scientists’ care. The countless days spent in the simulated wilderness with the conservationists will be put to the test right now as the panda journeys out into its real habitat. This is a historic milestone for China’s researchers and an emotional one as well. They have watched these animals grow up before their eyes and now are watching them do what they have been trained to do: be free. This is definitely a bittersweet moment for everyone involved because as much as they have been wanting to prepare the pandas for this exact moment, now that it has arrived it has to be both very uplifting yet also very sad. They know deep down that they will most likely never see those pandas again and never know whether or not they thrive in their new environment or fail. All they can do is hope that they have done their best in parenting these animals, then start all over again with the new batch tomorrow.