‘GMA’ Travel Diary: Robin Roberts Gets Up Close With Pandas in China

— -- China is home to the majority of the roughly 2,000 pandas worldwide. The playful, chubby-cheeked animals are considered one of the nation’s national treasures.

When “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts went to China earlier this month to cover the historic opening of the Shanghai Disney Resort, she made a stop to visit some of the pandas living at China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

The reserve, home to 153 pandas, is also home to a team of experts who work to keep the endangered species alive.

Roberts was taken inside the reserve’s baby panda pen by her guide, Mason. The Chengdu Research Base has nine baby pandas that are all around one year old.

After suiting up in protective gear, to safeguard herself and the playful pandas, Roberts went nose-to-nose with a baby panda and scratched the back of another.

Roberts also fed another baby panda a piece of bamboo stalk, a staple in their diet.

Mason, who also works at the Chengdu Research Base, explained that a typical day for the pandas consists of sleeping, playing and eating. When it comes to eating, the 153 pandas at the Chengdu Research Base eat anywhere from 26 to 84 pounds of bamboo daily.

Roberts also saw first-hand how excitable and personable pandas are as the bears hugged her legs and vied for her attention.

“They like to play, but they get very jealous,” Roberts said about the baby pandas. “I’m giving this one attention, but the other one doesn’t like it. So I’ll give you attention too. Wow, very human-like.”

The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News.