According to rangers, they must also record every trace of wild animals, fight against poachers and promote animal protection ideology among local residents.
Li Delei, 33, is a ranger in Longxihongkou, a nature reserve in Sichuan Province, also inhabited by wild pandas. He recently finished his spring patrol mission of the mountains.
Leading a team of 19, the 33-year-old also shoulders another tough yet interesting job - finding wild pandas.
The period between March and April is mating season for pandas. The fourth nationwide panda census showed that there are 10 wild pandas living in Longxihongkou's 40-square-kilometer area.
As one of the 35 panda reserves in China, Longxihongkou is an important habitat for a specific panda species. As it connects the Minshan and Qionglai mountain ranges, both of which host the world's largest panda species, Longxihongkou has been dubbed the "love corridor."
But finding wild pandas, according to Li, is pure luck, as close contact with wild pandas is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
Rangers must pay attention to every little detail in the habitat. Li's team is required to conduct a thorough research of the area, tracing the pandas' movements and also bringing back their excrement for further analysis.
They recently spent four days in the mountains "eliminating dangers" for pandas seeking courtship further down the mountain. Spring is also the busiest season for poachers, when they lay down traps that cause harm to pandas and other wild animals and forest resources. Rangers must manually disable and remove all of these traps.
Every day, each team member carries luggage and equipment weighing over 10 kilograms. Inside are rice, vegetables, instant noodles and some meat. The meat is a luxury, as it is likely to spoil when temperatures rise.
One of Li's colleagues had to leave after his first day of patrolling, as his knee has been injured in a previous mission. But the man still managed to walk 10-kilometers down the mountain road that day.
Protect their land
In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published the Red List of Threatened Species, in which it downgraded the giant panda from "endangered" to "vulnerable."
The report was based on data collected by Chinese authorities in 2014's fourth nationwide panda census. The census found that there were 1,864 wild pandas, an increase of 17 percent compared with 2005.
China's forestry authorities, however, said the report did not represent the true status of giant pandas, which remain endangered.
Experts also found that, due to fragmentation of habitats and human activities, wild pandas are facing greater risks today.
"The range of human activities is enlarging while the living spaces of wild animals are shrinking. We need to protect their land," said Wang.
These rangers' hard work has ushered in positive changes. At Anzihe reserve, the number of pandas has almost doubled to 16. Other noticeable changes are also happening.
Fu said that, a decade ago, illegal herb picking by local residents was rampant in the protection zone. After a crackdown on such illegal activities, regional herbs are thriving again.
"Herb picking will bring destructive blows to certain species. In an ecosystem, the life and death of any species will have a butterfly effect on everything else," he said, noting the importance of protecting vegetation.
Last year, China initiated the construction of a panda national park, in which Anzihe reserve was included. In August of 2017, rangers there were finally equipped with more advanced intelligent devices and CCTV cameras were installed along the boundaries of the reserve.
At Heishuihe reserve in Sichuan Province, a wild panda seeking a mate was spotted on March 15, only 2,000-meter away from human habitat.
