Received Villager Report: Giant Panda Activity Traces Reappear in Zhouzhi Board House Area
Hua Shang Bao Xun (by Wei Guangjing) According to the Xi'an City Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, recently, the Board House National Nature Reserve's Protection Station staff, during patrol and monitoring, received a report from villager Zhu, indicating that fresh giant panda droppings and bamboo consumption traces were found near the Tie Liang Gou. The protection station staff immediately went to the scene.
After checking, it was found that the location of the giant panda's activity traces was approximately 2400 meters from the 108 National Road, located on the south side of Tie Liang Gou, main beam north upper part, about 300 meters from the beam top, compared to the location where the giant panda crossed the 108 National Road on May 29, 2018, this time the giant panda's activity location is further north, which is the northernmost point ever discovered in the Zhou Xi Nature Reserve, with an altitude of 1800 meters, and its habitat is deciduous broadleaf forest, with abundant Qinling bamboo resources in the understory.
The Zhou Xi Nature Reserve is one of the most important distribution areas for giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains. The number of giant pandas is about 23, which is the northernmost distribution boundary of giant pandas in China. In recent years, in order to better protect the giant pandas and their habitats, the Zhou Xi National Nature Reserve Administration in Zhou Xi has comprehensively carried out the 'Effective Management Project of Giant Panda Habitat along the 108 National Road in Qinling Tunnel Area'.
Implementing ecological restoration projects, bamboo species Qinling bamboo, the main food of giant pandas, were planted on both sides of frequently visited and easily passed locations by giant pandas and in the Tai Ping River area, along with forest management and planting native tree species, to increase the food sources for giant pandas and establish giant panda corridors.
The 'Special Monitoring Project on the Impact of the West-to-East High-Speed Railway on the 108 National Road Qinling Animal Channel' was implemented, with animal monitoring transects, vegetation quadrats, and infrared cameras installed on both sides of the transmission line to monitor the effectiveness comparison between the vegetation recovery before and after the operation of the West-to-East High-Speed Railway. This not only restored fragmented habitats, connected the giant panda population of Tianhua Shan and Xinglongling Ridge, which were separated by the 108 National Road, and increased the opportunities for gene flow between giant panda populations, but also provided valuable materials for further research on giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains.
The second time giant pandas were found to be active near the Board House area along the 108 National Road, once again demonstrated that the Zhou Xi Nature Reserve's resource is gradually effectively recovered, and the ecosystem is stable and well-established, and the giant panda's activity area is expanding northward, and it further confirmed the effectiveness of the protection measures taken by the Zhou Xi National Nature Reserve in recent years, and it also provides valuable materials for further research on giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains.
