Zoo visitors around the world are used to seeing giant pandas lounging about after in well-cared for captivity. Little do they know pandas are in fact hardy and tenacious creatures in the wilderness. Well, to introduce one giant panda back into the wild, a protection center in Chinese province Shannxi has been training the animal to help it uncover its natural instincts.
6-year-old A-Bao has spent almost its entire life in Shannxi’s Endangered Species Protection Center, it doesn't know of any other home. A-Bao was only a six-month-old cub, injured and uncared for, when conservationists found it stuck in a ravine. It quickly regained its health at the protection center and exhibited amazing adaptability. And that’s part of the reasons it was chosen as an ideal candidate for the "back-to-the-wild" training. The key of the training is to help the panda recognize its natural enemies and fend off natural disasters as well as diseases without human protection. Plans have also been made to foster its interactions with other wild pandas. The whole process takes at least two years before experts can be sure A Bao will survive on its own in the wild.