Twelve tourists have been banned for life from China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for reportedly displaying bad behavior around the animals.
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According to a post on the Research Base’s official WeChat account, the banned individuals, aged 26 to 61, were caught throwing bamboo shoots, lollipop sticks, cigarettes, eggs, or bread, and spitting into the pandas’ outdoor play area on different occasions.
The pandas remain fine and healthy, the post added.
The Research Base has not publicly identified any of the banned guests or their nationalities. The WeChat post explained that these incidents occurred separately between April and June of this year.
As one of Chengdu’s most popular tourist attractions, the base provides detailed visitor instructions on its website. One note advises, “Please be mindful of your own and animals’ safety. Stay quiet and keep clear of animals; littering, spitting, throwing food into the animal activity field and other behaviors threatening animals’ safety are prohibited.”
The advisory also states that breaking these rules can result in various penalties, including criticism and education, a one-year or five-year ban, or a lifetime ban from the park.
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, established in 1987 in Sichuan province, aims to be a world-class research facility, conservation education center, and international educational tourism destination. The base is designed to replicate the natural habitat of giant pandas, which are native to China.
Scientists at the base go to great lengths to create a suitable environment for the pandas, including dressing in panda costumes sprayed with panda urine to “blend in.”
In 2018, the World Wildlife Fund upgraded the status of giant pandas from “endangered” to “vulnerable.” There are an estimated 1,800 pandas living in the wild today.
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