CREATIVE CONSERVATION IN CHINA: RELEASING CAPTIVE GIANT PANDAS INTO THE WILD

From November 7 to 11, 2018, the International Conference for the Giant Panda Conservation and Breeding (ICGPCB) was held in Chengdu, China. Over 400 experts from China and other countries shared their knowledge and experience in panda conservation and breeding, addressing multiple topics ranging from nutrition, behavior, disease to community education, and so on (Chengdu Research Base of Giant panda Breeding 2018). On this symposium, it is noteworthy that application of science to panda population restoration is blossoming, with 6 reports addressing releasing captive individuals into the wild. To reverse human impacts, conservation translocations are extensively adopted in western countries to conserve rare animals, but less attempted in developing countries (Seddon et al. 2014; Armstrong et al. 2019). In China, discussions on captive panda release can be traced back to 1997, when the international symposium on the feasibility of captive-bred panda release was held in Wolong Nature Reserve (NR). Since overcoming the difficulties in estrus, mating, and cub survival in late 1990s, captive pandas have reached 548 individuals by November 2018.

In contrast, wild pandas are now separated into 33 local populations, with 2/3 (22/33) at high risk of extinction, especially for those isolated small populations (ISPs) (State Council Information Office of China 2015). Entering twenty-first century, Chinese government initiated Captive Giant Panda Release Project (CGPRP) to reinforce the ISPs. In August 2005, a rescued wild female subadult Shenglin 1 was released into Longxi-Hongkou NR (West China City Daily 2005; Table 1). Xiangxiang, as the first captive-born male, was released into Wolong NR in 2006, but died about half a year later (News.sina 2007; Table 1). By now, 14 individuals were released into the wild, including 9 females and 5 males (Table 1). Except for Shenglin 1 and Luxin rescued from wild, the rest were all captive-born individuals. Three captive pandas died soon after release (namely Xiangxiang,

Xuexue, and Hesheng), from illness or fighting with wild individuals. Fortunately, Luxin was confirmed to give birth in the wild (Yang et al. 2018), implying that rescued pandas can be effective candidates for small population restoration. Nine captiveborn individuals were released into Liziping NR to reinforce the Xiaoxiangling ISP consisting of 30 individuals (Table 1). Two captive-born females were released into Longxi-Hongkou NR to reinforce the Jiudingshan ISP, consisting of 35 individuals (Table 1). In future, release sites may include Daxiangling NR and some historical ranges, such as Huayingshan in Sichuan, Shenlongjia in Hubei, and Anji in Zhejiang. Soft release is adopted in panda conservation translocations, which mainly includes four steps, namely, pre-release training, acclimatizing in enclosure, releasing, and postrelease monitoring (Zhang et al. 2017; Yao et al. 2019).

By now, post-release monitoring techniques usually include GPS collars, infrared cameras, and microsatellite markers (Yang et al. 2018; Yao et al. 2019). Forward-looking panda conservation translocations should base on changing landscape and minimize artificial disturbances, such as livestock encroachment and road construction (Wei et al. 2018). Releasing captive pandas into the wild opened a new epoch in panda conservation, indicating a creative conservation adopted by Chinese government to bridge captive and wild populations, which will bring the iconic panda a bright future. Except for Luxin, whether the other released pandas alive gave birth or not are questionable, implyingmore efforts needed for successful release in future, including extensive research on captive-bred candidacy, selecting suitable releasing sites, population viability analysis (PVA) to determine minimal viable population, genetic diversity comparison before and after release, and post-release monitoring (IUCN/SSC Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues.