Deep in a Bamboo Forest in China

Deep in a Bamboo Forest in China

This is the latest in our One Photo series, where photographers share their most meaningful photo and the story behind it.  Also watch our One Photo video here, where 5 photographers tell us what their image means to them. 

Photographer Ami Vitale was on assignment for National Geographic. Over the course of three years, she would travel to China five times to document the rewilding of giant pandas. Once on the edge of extinction, these animals are alive today because of China’s sheer determination to save them. Ami needed to tell that story.  

Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

One-year-old Jin Bao Bao has gotten the hang of climbing trees at Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in Sichuan Province, China. Pandas begin learning to climb at 6 months old as a way to avoid predators. They also love to play as they learn to climb and gain independence from their mothers. © Ami Vitale

Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

A mother and her cub play inside an enclosure at the Wolong China Conservation & Research Center for the Giant Panda, (CCRCGP) April 18, 2015. The cub is being trained to go back into the wild and panda keepers must wear panda costumes covered in panda urine so that they do not become familiar with humans before they are sent back into the wild. © Ami Vitale

Over the last 25 years, the work by the Chinese to encourage breeding and build its population of captive giant pandas is getting results. In its most recent survey in 2014, the government reported that there were 1,864 pandas living in the wild, a 17% increase from 2003.

Photographing China’s celebrated pandas was no small feat. “The biggest challenge was getting access to one of the world’s most endangered animals,” said Ami. “The Chinese treat them as a national symbol, and each panda is closely guarded and watched.”  

Eighteen Giant baby panda cubs are brought for a portrait with Director Zhang Hemin, also known as “Papa Panda” at the Bifengxia Giant panda base in Sichuan province, China October 24, 2015. © Ami Vitale

Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

A panda keeper does a health check on the cub of giant panda Xi Mei at the Wolong Nature Reserve managed by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province, China October 31, 2015.© Ami Vitale

Ami had to get close enough to photograph the pandas without interfering with their biology and conservation. “It was not just about getting access and gaining local trust,” she said. “But it was also a challenge to work with a wild animal. They’re bears, after all. They have teeth and claws.”

Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

© Ami Vitale

The solution was to blend in. Ami spent much of her time suited in a panda costume scented with panda urine.  


Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

Tourists watch Lai Yan Wu take care of giant panda cubs at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in Sichuan Province August 29, 2015. Nearly 50 percent of giant pandas births are to twins, but the mothers can care for only one cub at a time so keepers in China have developed a careful process for swapping each baby so they are fed both by their mother and by hand. Baby pandas wean from their mothers between 8-9 months and a year old and generally stay with their mothers for 2 years.© Ami Vitale

Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

Tourists watch as Li Feng cares for two month old giant panda cubs at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in Sichuan Province August 29, 2015. Nearly 50 percent of giant pandas births are to twins, but the mothers can care for only one cub at a time so keepers in China have developed a careful process for swapping each baby so they are fed both by their mother and by hand. Baby pandas wean from their mothers between 8-9 months and a year old and generally stay with their mothers for 2 years. © Ami Vitale

Of all the images Ami has taken over her celebrated career, this photo of a giant panda in a bamboo forest in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in China is the one that means the most. “This photo makes me realize how resilient nature is if we give it a chance,” she said.

Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

Ye Ye, a 16-year-old giant panda, lounges in a massive wild enclosure at a conservation center in Wolong Nature Reserve. Her 2 year old cub, Hua Yan (Pretty Girl) was released into the wild after two years of “panda training.” Her name, whose characters represent Japan and China, celebrates the friendship between the two nations. © Ami Vitale

“China, known for its environmental problems, was able to perform a minor miracle and get an animal on the edge of extinction off the endangered species list. This photo reminds me that there is hope.”

Pandas in China (Photo by Ami Vitale)

© Ami Vitale

This image has also taught Ami to be resilient and that there is always a story to tell if you persevere.

“Every time you dig harder as a journalist and a photographer, there’s always a much richer story than what you think you know.”

Giant panda Xi Mei, 15, cradles her cub born June 25 at Wolong Nature Reserve managed by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province, China November 08, 2015. © Ami Vitale

China’s ultimate goal in breeding and protecting giant pandas is to release them back into the wild. That has presented its own set of challenges, as the government must ensure that the bears can survive outside of the conservation centers. This is easier said than done.  

“The natural world is under threat as never before,” said Ami. “Population growth, consumerism, and abject poverty with no way out all conspire to ensure that nature is exploited for low and short-term gains with little thought to sustainability.”

But still she remains hopeful. “I have tremendous hope for the future and hope for the planet,” she said. “Because in the end, we are all intricately connected.”

Panda keeper Wu Kai looks after and feeds baby giant panda cubs at Bifengxia Giant panda base in Sichuan province, China October 27, 2015. © Ami Vitale

 Note: Giant pandas were taken off the endangered species list one month after Ami’s story was published in National Geographic.  

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