Praise for people who work with pandas

Comment on "Female panda released into the wild" (China Daily, Nov 7)

I'm a student from Wuhan and I would like to share some views about the topic. I traveled to Wolong, Sichuan province, one year ago, and was profoundly amazed by the beautiful landscape there. In the serene winter days, the fresh and fragrant breeze kept blowing.

Zhang Xiang takes her first steps into the wild on Wednesday morning at Liziping Nature Reserve in Sichuan province. She was lured out by staff members of the reserve who dressed in panda costumes. The release of Zhang Xiang lasted only two minutes. Provided to China Daily

The landscape of Sichuan province is strikingly beautiful, but it can never overshadow the difficulties of doing scientific work there. I can clearly recall how hard it was when I climbed the mountain in Sichuan. I can speculate through my own experience the tremendous challenge it must be reintroducing pandas into the wild. During the winter days the mountain trails are usually covered with ice, making it extremely hard to walk on those trails; and in summer the mosquitoes there are excessively annoying. Many of the experts and panda keepers must walk in the mountains for several hours everyday. Given the demanding conditions, the task of reintroducing pandas into the wild is onerous and burdensome.

However, such extraordinary progress has been achieved by them. It made me immediately excited when I first saw the title "Female panda released into the wild ". I sincerely wish that the lovely panda Zhang Xiang will survive in the wild, and I hope more momentous progress will be made in the coming year.

Lily Deng, via e-mail

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(China Daily 11/13/2013 page9)