MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

Our host opened the locked gate and we crossed a rudimentary bridge and proceeded up a side canyon that quickly took on the primeval. The walls were near vertical, plastered with greenery, and the stream very steep. I hustled on up ahead and broke into a run.

 

Running out of trail after about 2 miles, I worked my way up a different side canyon in a dry creek bed for another 2 miles. As my conscience about keeping my colleagues waiting started to overcome my desire to keep exploring a landscape like none I had ever seen before — bamboo, huge trees, massive boulders, waterfalls dripping moss and fern — I slowed down.

 

And then I heard the oddest sounds. “Baaaaa. Baaaaa.” And some popping noises. I don’t know the birds of China well enough to identify by sound, so I stopped and looked up for a while. It continued and I could tell it was coming from one side of the canyon and was being answered from the other. Then I thought it might be a monkey — I’m a lawyer by training, so I don’t know their sounds either (though some would say lawyers are equally less evolved…). I kept listening and the sounds continued. I made my way up the creek and around a corner slowly, stopping and watching every so often.

 

Finally the “baaing” stopped. I climbed up onto a boulder to get a better view. Around 40 meters away I saw two pandas running up the steep slope away from me — and some movement in some nearby bushes that indicated a third.

 

I watched them until they disappeared into the dense brush — only about 5 seconds. I was stunned. At the time, I didn’t realize how special it was to see these animals this way, and I also wasn’t really sure what they would do to me if threatened. I have spent a lot of time around grizzlies in Wyoming and Montana, so was thinking that going forward to investigate might not be a great idea. But after a few minutes I couldn’t resist and hacked my way through the bamboo to where I had seen them in hopes of finding some evidence. I found lots of footprints and took a few pictures.

 

When I got down I described the sound to North Asia’s chief scientist, Matt Durnin, who has a Ph.D in pandas from U.C. Berkeley. He confirmed that was the sound and the footprints of a panda. I felt like I should have played the lottery that evening—the chances of seeing a wild panda in the only 45 minutes I would spend in their habitat that week must be astronomically slim. But sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart.