Beyond tourist-friendly bases and fun live streaming is a tough job to save pandas from various threats
○ Rangers who guard the habitat of wild pandas are often ignored by media and panda fans
○ Due to their exhausting and demanding work, many panda rangers quit after just one or two years
○ Rangers disagree that pandas are no longer an endangered species, as their natural habitats are shrinking
Fu Qiang takes off his camouflage rubber boots and then his socks. He looks carefully into his boots to check for leeches. Indeed, more than 10 leeches have been spotted squirming around.
"We can eat a cold leech dish," Fu, director of Anzihe Nature Reserve's protection division in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, tells his two colleagues, half joking. The three men have been patrolling the mountains in Anzihe, which is inhabited by giant pandas, for several days.
While the three are well prepared for attacks from leeches, they are still unavoidable. After taking a shower later that night, one of Fu's colleagues found his arms and waist had several bloody cuts left by leeches. Luckily, the wounds are not serious.
Leeches, according to Fu, are just one of the many small difficulties encountered during their patrols. When these rangers patrol the reserve, which often takes days or even weeks, they are totally isolated from the outside world.
"My family has become accustomed to my 'lost mode,'" said Fu.
There are six rangers at Anzihe Nature Reserve, all of whom have 10 years experience on the job. On average, these rangers wear out a pair of rubber boots every two weeks, with over 100 patrols logged each year, and a total annual mileage surpassing 500 kilometers.
While a large and growing number of international fans are getting to know Chinese pandas and their keepers through live-streaming, rangers like Fu who guard the animal's habitat are often neglected.
It has been reported that most panda reserves are understaffed and their employees often under-qualified, as many employees do not have a college degree. Many quit the job within one or two years, as the working conditions are exhausting and demanding.
China's central government designated several mountain regions in Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces in the 1970s as protection zones or national parks to protect the habitat of pandas and other wild species that inhabit the areas.
"But apart from the Wolong, Tangjiahe and Wanglang nature reserves, most reserves only have several people watching the entire area," Hu Jinchu, an 89-year-old giant panda expert, told the media.
A tough job
Fu started working at the Anzihe reserve back in 2008. Before his arrival, the reserve was called "one person's protection zone."
To better protect the panda's natural habitat and sustain their reproduction, Sichuan set up 11 giant panda protection zones in 1993, with Anzihe chosen as one of them.
Wang Lei became Anzihe's first ranger, and for many years he was the only one. Back then there were no tents, sleeping bags or GPS. Wang had to rely on local guides, paper maps and sleep in a makeshift tent.
"On rainy days, my military blanket would become so heavy that I could hardly lift it," he said.
Twenty-four years have passed, but the only thing that has not changed is the boots the rangers wear. "Professional climbing boots can protect our ankles, but the price is too expensive. Military boots are cheap and don't slip, making them the best for us to patrol these mountains," said Wang.
