Word: wildes
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Breeding Center, the baffled bear received the shock of his young life soon after his fourth birthday. Last April 28, he was driven into the middle of thick bamboo forest and abandoned, making him the first giant panda bred in captivity to be released by Chinese scientists into the wild...
...Although he had received some survival training, Xiang Xiang soon found he had been dropped off in a very rough neighborhood. In late December, forest wardens spotted him via one of a string of video monitors positioned throughout the park. He had been bitten by a wild panda in a fight for territory, says Zhang Hemin, director of the Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda at Wolong. "Our researchers found him and brought him back. The doctor treated him briefly, then sent him back to the wild." Unfortunately for Xiang Xiang, the tough-love approach only compounded...
...save the species from extinction. But in 1975 China set aside 10 nature reserves for the bears, covering almost 1 million hectares in Sichuan province. That move, bolstered by years of worldwide publicity for the panda's plight, has reduced the threat. China's population of about 1,600 wild pandas has been stable for several years, says Fan Zhiyong...
...fact that China's pandas are no longer in jeopardy makes it harder to justify the more questionable aspects of its breeding programs. The 200,000-hectare Wolong Nature Reserve, for example, faces pressure from human development and is barely large enough to support its wild bear population, let alone additional pen-reared animals like Xiang Xiang. Then there's the problem that, with the exception of ungulates like deer, animals raised in captivity are rarely able to adjust to the rigors of the wild. Efforts to reintroduce orangutans into Indonesia's fast-disappearing forests have met with scant success...
...think. Consider: if not for a couple of snap-and-hold miscues, right now we could be dissecting a Cincinnati Bengals-Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl. But Cincinnati's Brad St. Louis botched a game-tying extra-point snap on Christmas Eve, ending the Bengals' playoff run. And in the wild card round, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo fumbled a hold on a game-winning field goal attempt against the Seattle Seahawks. The special-teams frat cringes at these gaffes. "I feel so bad for the guy," says Maynard of fellow holder Romo. "It's not something you're going...