Panda bears have captured the public’s attention for many a year. They are so cute and cuddly and always in danger of extinction that they seem to warrant the attention we pay to them in comparison to other animals. When one is born it is celebrated worldwide. This National Geographic feeds into that interest with their latest short documentary on pandas and the fight for their survival.
Pandas lived for millions of years happily in the bamboo (the only thing they eat) forest located in the mountains of western China. Human encroachment has disturbed their once blissful existence. The giant pandas living there have now been brought to the brink of extinction as a result. The Chinese government has stepped in with the help of other dedicated individuals to try to save them.
The documentary allows us an inside view of how the drive to save the giant panda is happening. We see them from birth to the raising of them in a nursery and finally teaching them various survival skills. This is all done with the hopes of moving them back to the wild. We get to see all this happening in the Wolong Panda Center in China giving some exposure to the work being done to save the cute and cuddly creatures.
Wolong, after doing this for decades, has finally reached its goal of 300 giant pandas and are now looking to release this breeding population into the wild. The makers of the film were allowed to follow the whole process. Magical.
