Panda Nursery

Part of the Series: On the Brink

Nestled in the mountains of China's Sichuan Province is the Wolong Nature Reserve. Here, forty giant pandas and a dedicated team are playing a crucial role in increasing the country's dwindling panda population, which currently stands at just one thousand. To increase the chances of baby panda cubs surviving, a new method of raising cubs has been developed by scientists. The baby bears are swapped between their natural mother and a 'surrogate mum' -- in this case veterinarian Wei Rongping. Panda Nursery witnesses this special partnership between Rongping and a female panda, who gives birth to two tiny cubs. The program follows the highs and lows of the eventful first six months of the cubs' lives and explores the challenges facing giant pandas in the wild.