One day as a panda volunteer

The decision to go and volunteer at the panda base in Ya’An was a very impulsive one. I had initially only planned on visiting the place. But seeing the pandas and their environment made me want to come back for more.

Applying: an administrational race against the clock

When I e-mailed the panda base on the evening after my visit, I had no idea whether my request was a realistic one. My Chinese visa would expire in 10 days, so if I wanted to volunteer, it had to be arranged quickly. The next day, Joseph from the panda base had replied: there was a free spot on July 30, which was already in 4 days.

As happy as I was about the free spot, the application procedure was rather demotivating. I needed to fill out an extensive application form and provide a specific health report from a hospital. I was never going to make it to a hospital in time! My phone couldn’t even open the pdf file that contained the application form! I almost felt like giving up.

But I would have been very disappointed in myself if I did. So I e-mailed Joseph back, asking if it would be sufficient to provide a certificate of good health and a copy of my vaccination card. He confirmed; my doctor in Belgium sent me a health certificate, a friend back home made screenshots of the pdf file for me, and I photographed my vaccination card. From a shabby room in a Tibetan homestay somewhere just outside Jiuzhaigou, I sent everything to Joseph.

The next day, only two days before the actual date of volunteering, Joseph e-mailed me again: my application had been accepted!

Tasks of a panda volunteer

(Note: since it is not allowed to publish photos taken behind the scenes of the panda base, the photos shown in this post were taken during my regular visit to the place, five days earlier. I did select photos however of the actual same pandas I was taking care of while volunteering.)

After having registered and been given a volunteer uniform the previous day, I entered the panda base at 8.30 in the morning of July 30. Joseph brought me to the ‘staff only’ area behind the enclosure of the three pandas I would be taking care of.

I quickly discovered that I was the only non-Chinese among the other volunteer and staff. Luckily, I was assigned a ‘coach’ for the day. She was one of the Chinese volunteers, whose English was nearly perfect since she had been studying in the United States.

We got the least exciting task right out of the way at the start of the day: cleaning the panda enclosure. Bamboo leftovers and panda poo, we swept it all together and into a big bucket. We cleaned the inside part of the enclosure with water and a sweep. During all of this, the panda was kept in a separate part of the enclosure, so that we would not be bothered. No matter how cute they look and how harmless they seem, they remain bears with strong claws and big jaws.

After having tied the freshly delivered bamboo together, we got to see those big fluffy animals from up close. It was panda feeding time! And the panda knew it too. He would sit up on his bottom, holding on to the enclosure bars in full expectation. We were several volunteers taking turns, each one of us handing the panda either a carrot or a piece of panda cake. It was a pleasure to watch them eat. Sometimes they would go and lie on their back to do their lazy eating. Living the good life!

In the afternoon, I joined a different group of volunteers to make panda cakes together. Their average age was 12. They turned out to not only all speak English very well, but also to be really nice and entertaining company. After learning about the different ingredients of panda cakes, such as corn meal, rice meal and some additional nutrients, we would mix all of it in the right doses and use our hands to transform the dough into cakes that would later be baked.

I joined my initial group again for one more session of panda feeding. A perfect way to end my day as a panda volunteer!