Successful release of captive-bred Panda

China's first captive-bred giant panda to be released into the wild has been coping well in bamboo forests in the country's southwest.

The April release of Xiang Xiang, a 4-year-old male, came after nearly three years of training to toughen him up at a research institute in Sichuan. "Through surveillance we found out that Xiang Xiang had gradually adapted to the wild environment," said Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre. Researchers fitted a global positioning system device around the panda's neck to monitor his activities.