Animals in Danger

➢Pandas

➢Fact file
1. Panda is a bear species endemic to China.
2. Pandas are characterized by their bold black-and-white coat and
rotund body.
3. The average life expectancy of wild pandas is only about 15 – 20
years, but the oldest panda ever was nearly 40 years old!
4. Pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or
even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they
may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or
bananas along with specially prepared food.
5. Pandas have excellent camouflage for their habitat.
6. Panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly
in Sichuan, and also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result
of farming, deforestation, and other development, pandas has been
driven out of the lowland areas where they once lived.
7. Why pandas are so important. Pandas help to keep their mountain
forests healthy by spreading seeds in their droppings, which helps
vegetation to thrive. Panda's forested habitat is also important for
local people – for food, income and fuel for cooking and heating.
8. The giant panda has often served as China's national symbol,
appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982 and as one of the
five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
 ➢Description

Why are pandas in danger of extinction?

Habitat Loss

Infrastructure development (such as dams, roads, and railways) is

increasingly fragmenting and isolating panda populations, preventing
pandas from finding new bamboo forests and potential mates. Forest
loss also reduces pandas' access to the bamboo they need to survive.
Human activities such as agriculture, logging, and infrastructure
development also pose a big threat. Giant pandas have been allowed
to persist only at elevations higher than land that can be used for
productive agriculture.

Can we help pandas?

Protect their habitat.

The most important work to save pandas is to protect their habitat.

Without this, pandas could only survive in captivity. To protect
panda's habitat, China government has set 13 panda nature reserve
areas. In the areas, farming fields have been left to grow back as
forest.
A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and
another 27 outside the country. By December 2014, 49 pandas lived
in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 countries. Wild
population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about
1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA
analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to
3,000. Some reports also show that the number of pandas in the wild
is on the rise.
 By March 2015, the wild panda population had increased to 1,864
individuals. In 2016, it was reclassified on the IUCN Red List from
"endangered" to "vulnerable", affirming decade-long efforts to save
the panda. In July 2021, Chinese authorities also reclassified the giant
panda as vulnerable. They became a global symbol of conservation
success. Chinese officials announced that the animals—whose wild
population has almost doubled after 30 years of government-led
recovery efforts—are no longer endangered.

Work by: Egla Fuga