Becoming a panda nanny

By Jillian Shaffer

 

College is supposed to prepare students to enter the workforce in a career of their choosing. However, some choose different career paths along the way for many different reasons. They say choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life, causing some people are taking this phrase quite literally and have started to apply to become a panda nanny. As of right now over 100,000 people have applied to take part in this experiment and become a panda nanny.

Due to China’s larger panda community, there are an overwhelming number of baby pandas and because of this, China’s panda protection and research center is now accepting applicants for average people to become panda nannies. One of the main purposes of this program is to raise awareness and interest of pandas. Many pandas in the past have been killed because of poachers or habitat loss which has decreased the fresh bamboo supply for these animals. This has led to the world population of pandas to decrease to less than 2,500 giant pandas in the wild.

The job is relatively simple. Employees will spend time with these new baby pandas and give them all the attention they could ask for. This job will be fairly easy since most pandas spend over half of their day just eating. Part of this job will also include dressing up as a panda to reduce human influence on the panda’s environment. This will help when possibly relocating the panda back into the wild, so they don’t rely on humans for support, but other pandas.

To be eligible for this job you just have to be at least 22 years of age and have basic knowledge of pandas and preferably have skills in photography and writing. This is a critical requirement for the job in order to document the growth and skills of the pandas as they grow.

The job pays about $32,000 a year plus meals, board, and use of the company SUV. Additionally, it requires employee’s to move to China. This could be a new start to a new life full of pandas and adventure.

Applications will be accepted until July 15, 2016.