Two months ago, an American group came to visit Tai Shan and spoke English to him. Tai Shan also responded to them, Huang said.
"Pandas are very intelligent."
Tai Shan has also begun to growl at other male pandas when he sees them in the back yard.
"It's like Tai Shan is claiming his territory," Huang said.
The Ya'an center was built in early 2008 as a backup compound for the nearby Wolong panda center.
"The idea of the center was to isolate pandas if an infectious disease was threatening them," Tang said.
During the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, the Wolong center, then the biggest panda reserve center in China, was destroyed and all the pandas were moved to Ya'an.
Wolong, also in Sichuan province, is now being rebuilt and most of the pandas at the research center are being moved back gradually.
"We don't have enough room for all the pandas," Tang said.
(Source: China Daily)
