Work with Panda Conservation in China

Project Summary

The regal Giant Panda needs your help! This gorgeous creature – a well known symbol of China – faces extinction. Many factors are assaulting the Giant Panda’s survival: habitat loss, industrialization, a low birthrate and a history of poaching. It is estimated that there are only 1,000 wild Giant Pandas left in the world. The majority of these live in the Chinese provinces of Shaanxi and Sichuan. IFRE partners with a wildlife and Giant Panda conservation center in the Shaanxi province outside of Xi'an. Fifteen Giant Pandas call this center home and are being monitored and studied along with other endangered species and wildlife. When you volunteer with the Giant Panda project, you have direct contact with these splendid animals as you work at this conservation center. Volunteers will bathe and feed the animals, clean enclosures and perform general maintenance. Other endangered species at the center include Golden Monkeys and the Crested Ibis – and volunteers will interact with these rare and lovely animals as well.

Project at a Glance Location: Xi'an Arrival point: Xi'an International Airport Hours: 30-40 hours per week Food: Chinese food (3 times a day) Room: Economy Hotel Date: First and Third Monday of each month.

Skills/Qualifications Needed

There are no special skills or specific qualifications needed to join IFRE’s Panda Conservation volunteer project. Volunteers need to have a love of animals, an interest in wildlife conservation and remember that flexibility and patience work best as a volunteer.

Volunteer Responsibilities

Every day is a new adventure when working with Giant Pandas! This volunteer project is very hands-on and you will interact directly with the pandas. Volunteers feed and bathe them and also help to clean the animals' enclosures and may be asked to perform general maintenance tasks around the conservation center. In addition to the Giant Pandas, you can choose other animals to work with. There is some administrative work to assist with – marketing and informational materials to be developed, etc.

Volunteers work with the permanent project staff and in-country coordinator to structure your volunteer experience. There are a variety of ways you can help! Past volunteers have helped to defined and perfected the volunteer tasks and duty options in coordination with center staff and IFRE’s in-country coordinator.

Volunteers may also be involved with the tourist education programs and practicing conversational English skills with the Chinese staff. English helps the staff to better communicate with tourists, translate professional journal articles, write marketing materials and attend conferences. If you enjoy teaching English, you could also teach at a local primary school. Your volunteer experience at the Conservation Center might include:

• Feeding and watering the animals
  
• Cleaning animal enclosures
  
• Bathing the animals
  
• Animal observation and behavior documentation
  
• General maintenance and center repairs including landscaping, fencing, etc
  
• Directing Conservation Center tours during tourist season
  
• Center administration support: data entry, marketing materials and brochure development, website editing, etc.

Room/Food/Supervision

IFRE provides living accommodations and three (3) meals a day for volunteers in our Panda Conservation project. These volunteers will stay at a modest economy hotel, within walking distance of the Conservation Center. We have a strong partnership with this hotel and they treat our international volunteers with kind respect and offer a very safe environment. Volunteers will have their own private, comfortable rooms with a bathroom, toilet, sink and shower. Internet is available at this hotel.

Your weekly program fee includes local Chinese cuisine for three meals a day. Panda Conservation project volunteers eat breakfast, lunch & dinner at a nearby restaurant which offers very delicious Chinese food. The Panda Conservation Center is located fairly far from our Xi’an homebase in a secluded rural area, so our in-country coordinator stays in contact by email or phone. Your main contact during your project is the supervisor at the Panda Conservation Center.