Unusual summer release planned for captive-bred pandas

China will release two captive-bred giant pandas into the wild at the beginning of July, in the first instance worldwide of the endangered species being set free in summer.

The two pandas, Hua Yan and Zhang Meng, are female. Hua Yan was born on August 14, 2013 in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, while Zhang Meng was born on July 7, 2014 in Ya'an, also in Sichuan.

They have been living with their mothers in a training center preparing them for the wild and they are in good health, according to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP).

Over the past two years, they have learned to search for food independently, find water sources, and avoid danger such as predators, said Huang Yan, an expert with the CCRCGP.

Previously, pandas have been released in late autumn or early winter, the time when wild young pandas usually leave their mothers to live independently.

The pandas will be set free at the Liziping Nature Reserve in Sichuan, where their activities will be monitored after the release.

This is part of a wider program to introduce more captive-bred pandas into the wild to diversify the gene pool, said Huang.

Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered species. Fewer than 2,000 live in the wild, mostly in the provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi. There were 375 giant pandas in captivity at the end of 2013, about 200 of them at the CCRCGP. Endi