Beijing, Jan 12 (IANS) China has begun sending pandas bred in captivity into a protected area in Sichuan Province in a bid to rebuild the depleted population of giant pandas in a natural habitat.

The first six pandas selected from 108 raised by the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base were released for “wildlife training” in a forest area covering more than 130 hectares called Panda Valley.

Researchers hope the pandas will be weaned from dependency on humans and learn to forage, mate and fend for themselves, Shanghai Daily reported Thursday.

An estimated 1,600 pandas live in the wild, their numbers dwindling from poaching and encroaching development.

The six pandas seemed tentative on their release. They later ambled about, eating bamboo in their new home, an initial 20-hectare controlled habitat.

Pandas selected for the project will be released in batches and monitored. The first six pandas range in ages from two to four and were chosen on the basis of gender and health.