China has recently released the fourth giant panda the country bred in captivity.

Fondly called "Xue Xue", the giant panda weighed 55.8 kg upon its release in the wild on Oct. 14. The Chinese officials in charge of the event had "Xue Xue" set free at the Liziping Natural Reserve located in Shimian, which is found in the southwest portion of China's Sichuan.

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According to the caretakers of the giant panda, "Xue Xue" was born on Aug. 5, 2012. Throughout its life prior to the release, "Xue Xue" regarded the Sichuan Wolong Hetaoping Wild Training Base as its home.

In the two years the giant panda had been staying in the Liziping Nature Reserve, "Xue Xue" learned how to forage for water and food. In addition, "Xue Xue" received training at the base on how to avoid and defend itself against possible predators.

A relatively similar process had been undertaken for giant panda released before "Xue Xue", namely, "Tao Tao" and "Zhang Xiang". Both also spent two years in the base training to forage and select a suitable habitat, as well as keep away from possible natural enemies.

"Xue Xue" had been taught these survival skills solely under the supervision of its mother and absent any human intervention.

"This release is different from previous ones, as Xue Xue's parents are both captive-bred giant pandas, which shows that our wild training has improved," stated the director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda of Wolong, Zhang Hemin.

Only the giant pandas considered as fit or those that "pass" all the testing parameters are allowed to be reintroduced to the wild. To monitor its progress and movements, "Xue Xue" had been equipped with a GPS tracking collar, which had been provided by Pandas International.

The initiative of sending captive-bred giant pandas into the wild began in 2006. The first to be released was a five-year-old male giant panda called "Xiang Xiang". Unfortunately, it died a year following its release due to fights with other pandas over territorial issues and food.

TagsGiant Panda, Xue Xue, Liziping Natural Reserve, Sichuan Wolong Hetaoping Wild Training Base, Tao Tao, Zhang Xiang, Panda