Six panda fans are named "pambassadors" for "Project Panda", which selects six panda ambassadors from five countries Wednesday to stay at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for one month in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province Sept 29, 2010. The winners are (from left to right): David Algranti from France, Yumiko Kajiwara from Japan, Ashley Robertson from the United States, Huang Xi from the Chinese mainland, Ali Shakonrian from Sweden and Wang Yu-wen from Taiwan. [Xinhua]

Dressed in the costume of a Sichuan Opera performer, Chriszelda Pieterse looked like an ancient Chinese woman going fishing.

The South African pretended to be sad until she saw a little boy dressed in a panda costume. "I want a panda rather than a fish," she said on stage.

Her show was not about opera, but about competing with other candidates on Wednesday to become one of six "pambassadors" in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province and the home of China's endangered giant pandas.

The six panda ambassadors from five countries who were chosen on Wednesday will stay at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for one month.

Each will serve as a panda keeper, photographer, videographer, journalist, scientist and researcher.

Chengdu research base officials said 61,615 people from 52 countries and regions in the world applied for the rare chance to work in close proximity to pandas as part of the project seeking to publicize the challenges facing the endangered species.

"Project Panda", in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature, was announced online during Sichuan Week at Expo 2010 Shanghai in August.

Following four hours of tryouts on Wednesday afternoon, the six "pambassadors" were chosen from 12 finalists at the research base.

They are: Wang Yu-wen from Taiwan, Huang Xi from the Chinese mainland, David Algranti from France, Ali Shakonrian from Sweden, Ashley Robertson from the United States and Yumiko Kajiwara from Japan.

They will begin working with the pandas on Oct 4 and blog about their experiences to help raise public awareness about the endangered animals.

The volunteers will also trek into the mountains around Chengdu to study pandas in their natural habitat.

There are only 1,600 pandas left in the wild, and nearly 300 others are in captive-bred programs worldwide, mainly in China, according to official reports.

In Wednesday's final Project Panda tryouts, candidates vied to be the first to answer questions. They identified eight different types of bamboo and gave a brief performance to show off their personalities..

"The 12 finalists stayed at the base for six days before the final competition. But they answered questions very well. Some of the answers were very professional, and even employees at the base did not know the answers," said Zhang Zhihe, director of the Chengdu research base.

"For example, few employees at the station knew that the milk of a new mother panda is green. It becomes white one week later," he said.

"Pambassador" candidates practice making food for pandas during a tryout for "Project Panda" in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province in this photo taken on Sept 24, 2010. [Xinhua]