Ayala with his colleague, veterinarian Lou Li, at the base. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/China Daily]

Days at the Opera

Big shoes to fit

"Pandas are arguably the most famous and controversial of the endangered species. Working on a conservation project of this magnitude has been a dream of mine since I first started working with wildlife 17 years ago," Ayala says.

"I am working to improve the way we train and manage pandas in captivity so that we can help save this iconic and endangered species."

Ayala was excited the first time he saw the pandas up close at the base, but when he thought about how he was going to train the pandas, he became worried.

"Pandas can be 150 kilograms. The first time I fed a panda, I was very nervous because its mouth was so big and its jaws are so powerful. It could take your hand right off," he says.

The first panda Ayala trained for an ultrasound was Jing Jing. She is very famous because she was chosen as the living mascot for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She symbolized the black Olympic ring and was one of the five Fuwa mascots who represented different endangered species of China.

Based on his past experience in animal training, he knew the first step was to gain her trust and establish a working routine with her.

"All animals respond differently to training and interaction with people. However, the principles of positive reinforcement, which we use to train animals, are the same. You always want to reward 'good' behaviors and encourage the animal to feel positive about the work you are doing," Ayala says.

He decided to begin by observing panda habits.

"Pandas eat mostly bamboo. But they really love sweet things such as honey and apples. So we use this as a treat for training," Ayala says.

Jing Jing is in her breeding stage when she has a chance to conceive. Because of this, it is essential to monitor her for pregnancy. A panda can behave as if she is pregnant and the hormones from her urine and feces can indicate she is pregnant. However pandas have the ability to fake pregnancy and not give birth. An ultra-sound is the only way to tell for certain whether a panda is pregnant, so it is important to train her to undergo the examination voluntarily. Before a veterinarian can perform an ultrasound on Jing Jing, Ayala had to teach her to lie down and rollover.

To position the panda, he trained her to touch her nose to the tip of a pole. Together to lie down, he put the tip very low on the ground so she had to lie on the floor.