Wei Hua and his colleague who are dressed as pandas take care of a panda cub (File photo)

A Chinese wildlife conservationist named Wei Hua, who was severely injured by a giant panda during wilderness training, still sticks to his dream of animal protection, People’s Daily reported Wednesday.

Though the extensive trauma could lead to permanent disability, Wei still hopes to get back to his work as soon as possible.

Wei was born in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Raised in a place with a fairytale-like landscape, Wei has an interest in nature and has made “friends” with birds and wild animals since childhood.

He was admitted to the wildlife reservation department of Guangxi University in 1997 and obtained a master’s degree 10 years later.

In 2007 he entered a zoo in Guilin, Guangxi, after graduation and was soon promoted to curator of the panda pavilion. For the first time, he had close contact with pandas and then formed an inseparable bond with this lovely species.

As a result, Wei decided to take panda research as the goal of his life.

In 2013, he quit the curator job and started working as a panda keeper for the Ya’an Bifengxia Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) located in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, more than 1,000 kilometers away from his home.

Wei believes it is worth it to chase his dream, despite the long distance from home and even the delayed schedule for his marriage. His parents worry a lot about him because he is far away. However, in early 2015, he applied to work at another base with harsh living conditions, hoping to participate in more field research.

Though his choice has been doubted by many people who said feeding the panda is a total waste of time for a master like Wei, he insists that he is happy with his job and to be engaged in wildlife conservation has always been his dream.