Rangers conduct spring patrol inspection in China's Giant Panda National Park

"Look, that's a Eurasian three-toed woodpecker. A bird species under national second-class protection," Wang Chao, a ranger at a natural forest management and conservation station of Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve in China's Giant Panda National Park, told People's Daily during a patrol inspection.

"The nature reserve is home to various animals, and our job is to safeguard their home," Wang said, walking along a footpath in the nature reserve located in Qingchuan county, Guangyuan city, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The nature reserve covers 40,000 hectares and has more than 3,700 species of animals and plants. It was primarily established to protect giant pandas and their habitats. Spring patrol inspection of the nature reserve involves the security of animals and plants as well as the monitoring of giant pandas using the line transect method.

"There are 110 species of wild animals under national protection in the nature reserve. Among them, 24 are under national first-class protection and 86 are under national second-class protection," Wang said.

Photo taken by an infrared camera on May 26, 2022 shows a wild giant panda in the Giant Panda National Park's Tangjiahe area in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (The Giant Panda National Park's Tangjiahe area/Handout via Xinhua)

As temperatures rise in spring, animals become increasingly active, which makes the job of rangers particularly important.

"There haven't been any poaching activities in recent years, but we still need to check carefully just in case," said Yang Guiping, Wang's teammate.

Yang said that rangers need to look around carefully during patrols to locate any hunting devices, and remove them.

Since some of the areas of the nature reserve are open to visitors, rangers are also tasked with stopping the illegal activities of visitors and promoting the idea of protecting animals, according to Yang.

"When we meet visitors, we tell them to stay away from wild animals and not to feed them," Yang said.

There are 104 transect lines for the monitoring of giant pandas in Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve, and 10 of them are located in the natural forest management and conservation station Wang and Yang work for, according to Wang.

Rangers carry out patrols along the transect lines every spring, and can always find valuable information, Wang said.

"Giant pandas are active in spring, especially after April, when they may voluntarily mate," said Yang, adding that ecological monitoring of giant pandas in spring includes removing obstacles from the paths they often take, collecting their feces, and retrieving infrared cameras.

Besides seasonal ecological monitoring, rangers conduct more than 25 routine patrols a month, Wang and Yang said.

"Sometimes we also need to replace the infrared cameras which are running low on power and bring back the pictures they captured," said Wang, adding that what gratifies him so much is that he has new discoveries almost every time.

"Infrared cameras installed in the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve have recorded activities of giant pandas many times," he said.

By analyzing giant pandas' tracks, feces, and activities caught on camera, rangers can accurately record the life and state of health of the animals.

China is going to conduct its fifth national survey of giant pandas this year, Wang said, noting that he looks forward to carrying out a comprehensive investigation into wild giant pandas with his colleagues in the Giant Panda National Park.

In addition to wild animals, rangers are also responsible for protecting forest vegetation and preventing deforestation.

"The nature reserve has 33 plant species under national protection, such as ginkgo, Chinese yew, and the Chinese dove tree," Wang said.

He said the nature reserve conducts night operations and special actions every spring to prevent people from gathering medicinal herbs or felling trees in protected areas.

All five management and conservation stations in the nature reserve have established cooperative relationships with surrounding villages and communities, and have jointly carried out activities to promote environmental and ecological protection, Wang said, adding that many villagers have become rangers.

Qingchuan county is now a demonstration zone for national ecological civilization construction and a key county in Sichuan's ecological barriers of forests, grasslands, and wetlands.