Pandas frolic in man-made snowfall

Wild pandas stay active for hours each day. But captive pandas are known for being inactive, which contributes to their low birthrate. Researchers have tried many methods to get captive pandas to move around and be more active.

For example, researchers in the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wenchuan county, Sichuan, place biscuits made of corn and trace elements in places where the pandas cannot easily find them.

Also, breeders freeze fruits before giving them to the pandas, so pandas have to play with the fruits until they thaw before eating, said center deputy chief Zhang Hemin.

Thursday marked the second time this year that the Chengdu base had created a novel environment to help pandas be more active.

On Jan 23, keepers placed lots of colorful food on bamboo and tree branches in the yards of some of the pandas' enclosures.

The food consisted of pandas' favorites: apples, carrots, oranges and honey. The pandas had to climb the bamboo and trees if they wanted to eat, said Wu Kongjun, a researcher at the base.