South Korea-born giant panda Fu Bao adapts to new life after return to China

Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea, has been adapting well to local bamboo and other aspects of a new life at a nature reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province after her return in early April.

The giant panda, dubbed the "top celebrity in South Korea," was born on July 20, 2020. She is the daughter of Le Bao and Ai Bao, a giant panda pair that arrived in South Korea in March 2016 on a 15-year lease.

The celebrity panda's new home at the the Shenshuping Base in Wolong National Nature Reserve offers her a spacious courtyard with plenty of room for a daily stroll, as well as a shaded nook where she can rest on hot days.

Giant pandas at the reserve do not have fixed hours to show themselves to the public, but rather move freely between the indoor and outdoor areas as they please. The breeders, apart from their essential tasks of feeding, cleaning and training, minimize interference, allowing the pandas to enjoy their lives.

Xu Xiang, who has been taking good care of Fu Bao from her quarantine period to her adjustment period, usually prepares the beloved bear's favorite apples and steamed buns at around 11:00.

"When Fu Bao first arrived, we were concerned about its adaptation to local bamboo shoots. We prepared several types of bamboo for it, from bitter to sweet. The next day, we noticed her eating bitter bamboo, which indicated that she had relatively good adaptability," said Xu.

Currently, Fu Bao has adjusted to the local food, enjoys interacting with people and follows a regular daily routine.

"Fu Bao actually has a good temperament. Occasionally, she extends her paw, not to grab you, but to grab something. Giant pandas become familiar with breeders primarily through their sound and scent. Over time, they develop a mutual sense of trust, so, we communicate with her daily. Now that she has settled down, her daily routine is more regular. In the morning, she exercises, walks around, takes a dip in the water when it gets hot, eats some bamboo and has her meals. In the afternoon, apart from eating some supplementary food, she mostly sleeps," said Xu.

During the adjustment period, experts are observing and assessing Fu Bao's progress to determine the time for it to meet the public. It is preliminarily expected that Fu Bao will meet the public in June, with the specific date yet to be confirmed.

South Korea-born giant panda Fu Bao adapts to new life after return to China

China’s first intelligent field plant phenotype precision identification platform went into operation recently in Sanya City, south China’s Hainan Province, which is a milestone in the country’s development of intelligent breeding.

The phenotype of a plant is a term used to describe observable characteristics of the plant, such as its appearance, and some inherent physiological characteristics, such as resistance to drought and diseases.

In an experimental field of the National Nanfan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a large piece of equipment is moving across the field. The equipment, called the field plant phenotype precision identification platform, can move according to the preset track and can be remotely controlled. While moving, the equipment can scan the plants with its six sensors, just like a CT machine for plants.

"The ultimate goal is to achieve high-throughput, large-scale, efficient and precise collection of germplasm resources, which can be four to five times higher than the efficiency of the traditional manual collection," said Jin Xiuliang, a researcher at the institute.

Although the equipment looks simple from the outside, it contains six high-precision image acquisition devices such as multi-spectral, thermal infrared, and chlorophyll fluorescence devices. Data can be collected at fixed times and points according to experimental needs, and the collection of a germplasm material can be completed within 30 seconds.

After the data collected through this platform is transmitted to the data analysis center, researchers can more quickly and accurately screen out germplasm resources with excellent traits, laying the foundation for subsequent crop breeding.

"The plant phenotype identification facility at the National Nanfan Research Institute is a milestone in the field of crop science in China. It can greatly enhance the independent innovation capabilities of germplasm innovation, gene mining, and variety breeding, and enhance the international competitiveness of China's seed industry," said Li Huihui, vice president of the institute.  

China makes major progress in smart crop breeding