episode description
No wildlife presenter has ever got alongside totally wild pandas, but Nigel is on a mission to find one. With only 1,600 pandas remaining in the wild, spread across thousands of square miles, it’s a tall order. Nigel enlists the help of a team of Chinese guides for an expedition through the forest. On the way, there’s exciting detours. The team reach the summit of Taibai Mountain, at almost 4,000 metres it’s a barrier between north and south China. En route, the team are guests at a monastery where the monks tell stories of yeti sightings. On the lower slopes, takin antelope are feared. They can be a metre tall at the shoulder and weigh over a third of a ton. Nigel has to climb into the bamboo to avoid a charge from one. Then, success: the team get alongside a shy wild panda, perched high in the canopy chewing on leaves. Back at Wolong, there’s drama as captive panda Lang Lang stops caring for one of her cubs. Nigel learns how the scientists there act as surrogate mothers, and takes a turn to feed the cub.
