Giant Panda Cub - Sichuan Province, China

The youngest cub visible at the breeding base. Already feeding like an adult!

Portrait Of A Giant Panda - Sichuan Province

While giant pandas are bears with carnivore specific genes and digestive systems, they depend for 99% on bamboos for their diet. They therefore have to ingest between 9 to 14kg of bamboo shoots per day to cover their body requirement in protein and carbohydrate. As a result, they tend to lead a rather passive life, spent mostly feeding and resting, to save valuable energy...

Giant Panda Breeding Research Base - Sichuan Province

Sichuan is one of the three Central China Provinces where giant panda can be found. Out of 16 reserves dedicated to this animal in China, 11 are located in Sichuan, with Wolong Nature Reserve being the largest one. We visited the giant panda breeding research base, established 10km north of Chengdu.

For the photographer, the black and white coat of the giant panda is complex to expose properly. One cannot overexpose to catch details in the black as the white will be out of the dynamic range of the camera, especially under sunny conditions... Luckily, we arrived at the base early morning when the light is still soft and the pandas actively feeding. The usual foggy conditions helped, acting as a natural light diffuser. However and even with a further -0.7EV compensation, I still had some shots with blinkies on the bears foreheads... Another problem is that giant pandas tend to close their eyes when they feed...