Wild Giant Panda


Shaanxi Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve
Crested Ibis is a very rare wading bird, one of the most endangered Aves in the world today, is classified as an endangered species in the IUCN Red Data Book and Class under the National Protection of China. Praised as'eastern jewel'. Once widely found in China, as well as Russia, Korea and Japan, in 1964 Crested Ibis disappeared stealthily, but it was amazedly found again in Yaojiagou in Yang county in Shaanxi province,China. in May of 1981, the population is only 7. This remote Yang county, famed for paper making of Cailun in history, became the last habitat of Crested Ibis which is a rare bird worldwide, therefore is well-know home and abroad today.
	Since finding the only 7 wild Crested Ibis that survived in the world again in 1981, the government and relevant responsible departments did a large number of protection work.

In 1981, the Yang county government arranged four young capable men at county forest department, to establish Yang County Crested Ibis Protection Group, beginning to ward the Crested Ibis. Yang County Crested Ibis Protection Observation Station was established formally in 1983. Supported by original National Forest Ministry, the Shaanxi Crested Ibis Conservation Station was established with the approval of People's Government of Shaanxi Province in 1986, is responsible for domestic Crested Ibis in Shaanxi Province and protecting and breeding work.

At the end of 1990, Shaanxi Crested Ibis Save and Breeding Centre was set up in Zhoujiakan village in Zhifang town in Yang County. Through nearly 20 years' untiring efforts of the protecting work, the wild population of Crested Ibis has already been grown from 7 at that time to more than 130, and the breeding population has already reached more than 120 too. Its scope of activities has already been expanded to 6 counties and cities, such as adjacent Chenggu, Xixiang, Hanzhong, Nanzheng and Mian County,etc. from Yang County at that time. The area involves 3000 sq.km. In August of 2001, the government of Shaanxi province was on the foundation that 'Shaanxi Crested Ibis Conservation Station', approved and established Shaanxi Crested Ibis Nature Reserve which is now enlarged to be Shaanxi Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve.
	Shaanxi Crested Ibis Nature Reserve is one based on the protection of Crested Ibis which with especial International meaning, " World Protection Bird" and extremely endangered and its habitats, At the same time to protect too in the areas of the ecosystem of the forest, wild animals and plants and wetlandCollect bio-diversity protection, scientific research and propagate and educate nationall nature reserve of the type for a integrative one multi-functional and comprehensive and wetland.
Wild Crested Ibis lives between from １０７°１７′～１０７°４４′ E and from ３３°０８′～３３°３５′ N at altitudes mainly between 450and 1200m, its habitat may divided by breeding zone, loafing zone, and winter zone. The total acreage of Shaanxi Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve is 37550 ha.involved 19 villages and towns of Yang county and Chenggu county, among them Yang county 33715 ha. which accounts for 89.9% of the total number, and Chenggu county 3835 ha. which accounts for 10.2%. Hills are undulating in the Reserve, brooks vertically and horizontally, ponds and reservoirs spread all over the place, the type of vegetation interlocks complicatedly, the type of natural landscape is various, is the ideal environment of perching for Crested Ibis

Being situated on the southern slope of the middle Qinling MountainsCrested Ibis Nature Reserve has not only the biome similar to other area, but the wetland ecosystem that will not be found in those, belongs to the transition of weather from the warm temperate zone to the northern subtropical zone, it is warm and moist, hot the same period of rain, no heat in Summer and no severe cold in Winter, the annual average temperature is between 12 ℃ and 14 ℃, the annual average precipitation is between 900mm and 1000mm, Frost-free period is 238 days.
	River system belong to Han River of the Yangtze River valley river system, rivers vertically and horizontally, ponds gather, water resource is abundant. The vegetation are mainly the forest mixed with green broad leaf woods and broad leaf of fallen leaf of north subtropical zone, and the woods of broad leaf of fallen leaf of warm temperate zone.
The animals and plants are various in style, there are 534 kinds of animals, 11 kinds of animals under top-level State protection among them, mainly include Dark Stork, Crested Ibis, White Stork, Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), Golden Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) and Golden Takin(Budorcas taxicolor), etc.;
22 of protection animals at Class are Black Bear (Selenarctos thibetanus), Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens), Musk Deer (Moschus berezovskii ), Goral(Naemorhedus goral caudatus), Blood Pheasant(Ithaginis cruentus sinensis), Red Belly Corner Pheasant(Tragopan temminckii) etc. mainly. Plants reach 2560 by species, belonging to 52 genera, 72 families.
The type of vegetation of forest is various, and varies with the elevation changes and presents the obvious perpendicular gradient to distribute Including the distribution characteristic of fauna and flora which are in north subtropical zone warm temperate zonecold temperate zone.