Hide-and-Seek

by+Wang+Fang+and+Chen+Jian

Shi Xiaogang， director of Sanjiang Protection Station under Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve， started working in Wolong in 1992. Over 20 years have passed since Shi began patrolling the mountains to protect giant pandas.

The patrol area in Wolong is divided into three parts： highways， near mountains， and alpine and remote mountains. Shi Xiaogang is in charge of the alpine and remote mountains. His team was established in 1963 along with the founding of the nature reserve. In 2003， the team doubled its efforts to monitor the resource situation of all wildlife in the entire reserve and set goals to get protection policies improved and map out long-term scientific research campaigns. Not only did they routinely patrol and protect the forest， but cracked down on poaching and illegal logging. The area is home to some 100 mountains at altitudes of 5，000 meters and above. It usually takes at least a week， or as long as 20 days， to complete one patrol. Rangers commonly hike over 500 kilometers a year.

What do they do exactly？ What kind of difficulties and challenges has the patrol team encountered？ The 2002 journals of Shi Xiaogang shed some light.

Conquering Panlong Temple

On September 2， 2002， a local medicinal herb harvester reported illegal hunting around Panlong Temple， 3，970 meters above sea level. Xie， who oversees the Protection Division， assembled three teams of elite rangers immediately， and they contained the suspects from three directions in three days.

Upon receiving the order， my team， including Chen Shulin， Ming Qiang， and two migrant workers， headed to Panlong Temple from Huangling Ditch. We got lost in a river valley for two days. Fortunately， we bumped into Luo Guoan， an old man gathering medicinal herbs， who agreed to guide us. We camped on the pebble beach in a valley， 2，300 meters above sea level， to prepare for a tough battle tomorrow.

We set off as soon as day broke after finishing the last drop of our food. As we left our camp， it began to rain. It was so foggy that even Luo got lost.

We kept trekking for more than 10 hours， but still found ourselves in the middle of nowhere. Even GPS and map didnt help. Once in a while， I would announce the altitude on my watch： 2，400， 2，500， 2，600….， to encourage the team.

As night fell， we found a place less than four square meters on a ridge to spend the night. Everyone was drenched， shivering in the fog. We tried but failed to light a fire with spare cloth and underwear. Finally， Ming Qiang devoured the last piece of fat bacon. The six of us sat around the fire back-to-back. We shared a small bowl of dirty water with leaves floating in it.

We got up at 6：30 a.m. the next morning and resumed our journey in the foggy rain. We must make breakthroughs today. We climbed sheer cliffs and made it by helping each other. When we could hardly move due to starvation， Luo Guoan shared his roots of medicinal herbs. It cleared up at around 11：00 as the heavy fog dispersed. Finally， we saw the grassland at the summit where Panlong Temple is located.

Everyone couldnt help but cheer： 3，600， 3，700， 3，900 meters…“We made it！” Tears streamed down my and everybody elses faces， not from fear， but from the joy of success.

Giant Pandas along the Xihe River

Cold March rain enraged the Xihe River， which had previously stayed calm for quite a while. It was my fifth visit to Xihe. Standing on the hillside riverbanks， I could only wonder whether I would find a chance to shoot pandas.

It was easy to find traces of their activity in the wild but hard to see the animal with my own eyes. I had hardly seen a wild panda over the last ten years.

As my teammates waded across the torrential river， I tried to encourage myself， murmuring： “Relax， its not that cold，” but“Ouch！” I could hardly stop myself from screaming， and my brain went completely blank.

Everybody was exhausted after seven hours of trekking through 34 rivers. We finally found a place along the bank to camp before it got dark.

Good news arrived at around 9：00 a.m. on April 2， when Zhang Liang from the Sanjiang Protection Station discovered fresh droppings which were still warm. “They must be nearby！” We jumped up to start searching in groups of two， spread out every other 20 meters， all the way up the ridge.

I froze when I heard a cracking sound in the bamboo forest ten meters away. “Is a big guy moving？” asked Wang Shiming appearing out of nowhere. We approached the sound and saw a round head with black ears and a pair of “sun glasses.”

“Oh my my！ Its him！” I shouted unconsciously， breaking the silence of the mountain. The round head looked up， gazing at me， seemingly wondering： “Who is this guy？ Ive never seen this before.”

Ten seconds must have passed before I stepped back to take out my camera. The panda darted at full speed into the depths of the bamboo forest. I chased without hesitation， ignoring scratches on my hands and face.

I was out of breath after nearly an hour and half of chasing. The panda kept running non-stop and looked back once in a while with a cute look， challenging me， “Come on！ I havent played this game for a long time.”

“Would you slow down a bit？ Im not going to hurt you.”

It seemed he read my mind and stopped， then moved towards us. But he ran away again when I shot him with my camera.

After about two hours， the panda led us back to the place we found him. He stood leisurely on the hillside， eying his chasers like they were a group of drowned rats， and then disappeared into thin air.

Over the next seven days， we never saw our mischievous friend again.