Giant Pandas and Their Conservation

By GARETH DAVEY

Giant panda “Paradise” -- China Giant Panda Research Centre in Sichuan Province.

IT is paradoxical that the most well-known conservation symbol in the world, the giant panda, is a critically endangered species with estimated numbers of just 1,600 that live in the high-altitude forests of southwest China (within the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi). Giant pandas are popular and elicit affection and admiration throughout the world. However, despite their popularity giant pandas are succumbing to destruction of their habitat, poaching and other human activities. Their habitat once spread across a large part of China and also other areas of southern Asia, but they now reside in isolated areas generally uninhabited by people. The plight to save the Panda has attracted national and international support, and scientists are using a powerful arsenal of conservation tools to try and save the species. This article examines giant pandas and conservation efforts to protect them from extinction.

Main Threats

The main factors contributing to the decline of the panda population are habitat destruction and fragmentation, poaching and a low rate of reproduction.  Perhaps most significant is habitat loss.  Deforestation (from logging and also farming) has reduced forest coverage in Sichuan Province by 30 percent over the past 30 years. Pandas now live in isolated groups in a few pockets of forest, which means there is a greater risk of inbreeding. Poaching of panda fur is another major problem because pelts fetch a high price on the black market.  Given the low number of pandas in the wild, even poaching a small number seriously influences the ultimate survival of the species.  These problems are exacerbated by a low reproductive capacity that prevents giant pandas from increasing or even maintaining let alone increasing their population.

Conservation

Physical examination for 30-day-old panda pup.

The Chinese government proactively encourages giant panda conservation, having created the first giant panda reserve in the 1960s, since which time the number of reserves has increased.

Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has improved the environment of endangered animal habitats, accelerated nature conservation, and increased the number of panda reserves from 13 to 40. Yaan Green Peak Valley, a newly built 400-hectare giant panda research base representing a 240 million RMB investment, is the biggest of its kind in China.

Since the first successful artificial insemination of pandas in Beijing zoo in 1963, Chinese scientists have formulated more sophisticated techniques. Difficulties regarding panda oestrum, breeding and feeding have been overcome, and a hundred pandas have been successfully bred.

In October 2004, the National Forestry Bureau announced that the total number of pandas reached 1,750, with 1,590 in the wild, and 161, including 23 in foreign countries, in artificial environments. This marked the third occasion on which the Chinese government has carried out research on pandas and the first time in 15 years it has publicly announced the number of living pandas.

The results of captive breeding programs, however, have been disappointing: many arranged mating prove unsuccessful because the females are only fertile a few days out of the year; also, infant pandas rarely survive beyond a year.

Many international organizations are also actively involved in giant panda conservation. For example, the WWF collaborates with the Chinese government to allocate more to nature reserves and to organize conservation programs. The WWF currently funds a community-based conservation project in Pingwu County, Sichuan Province and teaches local people about giant panda protection. Working with the local people is important because imposed restrictions in the area, such as bans on logging and restricted agricultural activities, have fostered conflict with the local people. For instance, in Wolong the Han Chinese (the dominant ethnic group) and also ethnic minorities (such as the Tibetan, Yi and Hui) make a living from growing corn and vegetables; cutting down trees for fuel; raising pigs; and grazing cattle, sheep and goats, all of which retard regeneration of forest and impinge on conservation efforts. 

What does the future hold for the giant panda? Despite conservation efforts, threats posed by continuing destruction of natural habitats mean that it is still one of the worlds most endangered species. The Chinese government and international organizations, however, have recently intensified efforts to protect it. 

Giant Panda Facts

After wild life training, pandas are taken back and released in her forest home.

As early-born as dinosaurs, the giant panda is one of the worlds rarest animals. After 3 million years of evolution, it still has a tenacious hold on life, and is often referred to as a living fossil.

It is sometimes assumed that giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are primates when in fact they are bears. Genetic studies have shown that pandas are more closely related to the black bear (Ursus americanus) than the red panda (Allurus fulgen), which is a primate. Giant pandas are distinctively bear-like in shape with dense black-and-white markings. Their legs, shoulder-area, ears and eye-patches tend to be black and interspersed with white fur. There are also extremely rare pandas with brown-and-white markings.  The reason why pandas are black-and-white is open to debate. It has been suggested that their coloration patterns may act as camouflage, but this proposition is difficult to accept because pandas have few predators. It has also been suggested that this distinctive coloration enhances their ability to locate other pandas. It is in any event used for defence purposes, as when disturbed pandas often prick up their black ears (which look like another pair of eyes) to frighten off other animals.

Adult pandas range from four- to six-feet in length and their weight varies between 165 and 353 pounds. Males are larger and stronger than females, and both have disproportionately large heads. Pandas are solitary animals in the wild and only encounter each other during the mating season. As their vision is generally poor and the panda communicates by rubbing its scent glands against trees and rocks and leaving scent marks. Giant pandas are predominantly vegetarian and bamboo comprises 99 percent of their diet (although they are known to eat fish and rodents). In captivity they also eat vegetables and dietary supplements. The pandas digestive system, however, is characteristically carnivorous with adaptations for a diet of bamboo. The oesophagus has a tough lining to protect it from bamboo splinters and the pyloric region is covered in thick mucus. As less than 20 percent of the bamboo consumed is digested, pandas spend most of the day consuming food in order to maintain life.  Other adaptations for eating bamboo include a sixth digit on either paw to aid handling large amounts of bamboo, and well-developed chewing muscles.