Environment     

Survival risks remain for wild pandas despite population growth

Xinhua, March 1, 2015

• A 2-year-old female giant panda named Xue Xue was released into the wild on Oct. 14, 2014, after two years of training. She was the fourth captive-bred panda to be released into the wild.

  Captive-bred panda risks

  Although some wild giant pandas face survival risks, Chinese researchers have been working hard to release more captive-bred pandas to the wild.

  Thanks to breeding developments, the number of captive-bred giant pandas around the world is increasing.

  But researchers found that captive-bred pandas have lower genetic diversity than their wild kin, Zhang Hemin, director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Saturday.

  Zhang is known as the "father of giant pandas".

  Genetic diversity is integral to the survival and adaptability of a species.

  Thus, wilderness training of giant pandas is necessary, Zhang said, to ensure the species does not die out.

  Since 2010, the Sichuan-based center began to limit the number of newborns to 15 each year to ensure quality. Half must participate in the wilderness training programs.

  "Pandas are not pets. The purpose of panda research is to help them return to the wild. Leaving them alone is the best way to protect them," he said.

  Another challenge is disease. In late 2014, four pandas in Shaanxi Province died from canine distemper virus (CDV).

  "Risks remain. Once a giant panda is infected with CDV, fatality is highly likely," said Li Desheng, vice director of the center. He called on people to pay more attention to disease prevention; otherwise protection efforts will have been in vain.

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