In need of a little pick-me-up? Check out these gorgeous photos taken at the Panda Volunteer Experience in China!
Photographer Ami Vitale spends much of her time snapping shots of China's most famous mascot during the most tender parts of their lives. As part of her work with National Geographic, Ami often finds herself based at the Bifenxia Panda Base, which is also the home of our Panda Volunteer Experience. Here, Ami follows the tiny panda cubs from birth through to full-on explorer mode, as we watch them grow from tiny babies into tree-climbing, rolling-and-tumbling bundles of joy. Check out some of Ami's photos below, and try not to melt!
A baby panda is born at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding Centre. Nearly 50% of giant panda 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. A baby panda will be weaned by its mother between 8-9 months and will stay with their mothers for 2 years.
A giant panda holds its cub.
A baby panda peeks over its basket. Adorable!
A baby panda rolls around in its basket. When giant pandas are born, they are blind and weigh only 100 grams - that's 1/900th of their mother's weight and, by comparison, a baby-to-mother ratio in humans is 1/20th! This panda is not a newborn, as can be told by its colouring, but it's still very young indeed.
A baby panda being weighed.
Peekaboo!
A vet at the centre spends time with a young panda cub.
Baby pandas get a taste of the outdoors!
Aaand stretch...
A bundle of fun!
It's a hard life being a panda...
Squad goals!
A giant panda holds its cup up high.
Did you enjoy these photos? You can see more of Ami's work at www.amivitale.com, or if you'd like to volunteer with pandas, head to our project page now!
