GIANT PANDA

Emblem of hope for a nation and global biodiversity

This peaceful, bamboo-eating member of the bear family faces a number of threats. Its forest habitat is fragmented and populations are small and isolated from each other. Meanwhile, poaching remains an ever-present threat.

Over 50 reserves created
By mid-2005, the Chinese government had established over 50 panda reserves, protecting more than 10,400km² and over 45% of remaining giant panda habitat.

However, habitat destruction continues to pose a threat to the many pandas living outside these areas.

Currently, only around 61% of the population, or about 980 pandas, are under protection in reserves. As China's economy continues its rapid development, it is more important than ever to ensure the giant panda's survival.

WWF has been active in giant panda conservation since 1980.

More recently, WWF has been helping the government of China to undertake its National Conservation Programme for the giant panda and its habitat.

This programme has made significant progress: Reserves for this species cover more than 16,000 km² of forest in and around their habitat. A survey (released in 2004) revealed that an estimated 1,600 individuals remain in the wild.

About the panda
The panda is not special just because it is one of the most well known and charismatic animals. It is also a very peculiar species, with many unique and very interesting characteristics.

PANDA POPULATION IN THE WILD

By 2004, there were estimated to be 1,600 pandas alive in the wild.
How does this compare to past figures? In the first ever mass survey that took place between 1974-1977, the researchers estimated that there were around 1,000 -1,100 giant pandas in the wild. In the 2nd ever survey, done between 1985-1988, again, around 1,000 animals were thought to exist.

How do you count pandas?

Knowing how many pandas exist in the wild is not an easy task.

In fact, it requires a massive amount of effort and some not very pleasant activities...

Teams of volunteers trek out into steep, mountainous areas and look for signs of the panda. The thing they keep an eye out for: dung!

When they find it, they sift through the dung to pick out pieces of undigested bamboo.  

The way they identify individual pandas is from their bite marks on this undigested bamboo... which are all different (a bit like fingerprints).  

Remember that pandas are solitary and shy animals that usually roam remote and hard to reach areas in China's bamboo forests and mountains. Often, researchers have to walk for days and days, inspecting every meter of the forests for panda poop!

Each team of researchers is composed of about 40 people who are then divided into smaller sub-groups. A team can usually cover approximately 80 km2 each day. 

Panda’s feces found in Longxi-Hongkou survey.