Morning - arrival and the family briefing
An early start, because the animals are most active in the cool hours and the volunteer day begins when the keepers do. On arrival the family group is registered and given a briefing adapted for children: what the base does, why the pandas are here rather than in the forest, and what the hygiene rules are for. Every child works with an accompanying adult, and the base's own staff stay in charge of the work throughout. Most bases set a minimum age for volunteering - commonly eight, sometimes twelve - and some restrict certain areas to adults; the rule is set by the base, and we confirm the current one before the booking is taken.
Late morning - the family shift
The tasks are chosen to be safe and useful rather than heavy. Families commonly help sort and weigh bamboo, carry it to the feeding points, fill and wash water troughs, sweep paths and service areas, and prepare the food trays. Children are generally given the sorting, counting and recording jobs, which is not a consolation prize: the droppings count and the bamboo weighing are the two records that tell a keeper how an animal is doing. Older children who meet the age rule can join the enclosure cleaning, which happens only after the animals have been moved into the outdoor yards.
Lunch
In the base canteen, or a packed lunch if the base's canteen is not open to visitors that day.
Afternoon - conservation session and a viewing session
The afternoon session is built for children and answers the questions they actually ask. Pandas eat bamboo almost all day because they digest very little of it. A newborn cub weighs about a hundred grams, roughly one nine-hundredth of its mother's weight, and in the wild the mother normally rears only one. The sixth digit that lets a panda hold a bamboo stem is not a thumb but an enlarged wrist bone. Twins, when they occur in managed breeding, are usually hand-reared in rotation with the mother. The day closes with a certificate for the children and a supervised observation session from the viewing platforms, where the animals are in their yards and the photographs are as good as they will get.
What is not included
The programme does not include touching, holding or hand-feeding a panda, and we do not sell it as such. Photo sessions with a young animal are controlled by the base, are paid separately, are frequently suspended for animal-health reasons, and are never guaranteed. Volunteer numbers are capped by the base, children must be accompanied throughout, and the working programme can be suspended at short notice during the nursery season, during disease-control measures or in extreme heat. If that happens we deliver the education-centre version of the day.
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation
In Chengdu.
