The number of giant pandas in captivity across China has
risen to 183, up by 22 from the national survey result announced
three and a half years ago, said Zhao Xuemin, deputy director of
the State Forestry Administration.
In 2005 alone, 18 panda cubs were born in captivity, Zhao said
at a seminar on the protection of pandas at Qinling Mountain Range
held in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
Zhao attributed the rapid increase in panda numbers to
breakthroughs in artificial reproduction techniques for this rare
species.
Chinese researchers have solved some key issues concerning panda
procreation including oestrum and mating concerns.
China launched a special project for the protection of giant
pandas and their natural habitats in the early 1990s. To date, four
centers for panda reproduction have been set up, with encouraging
results in panda protection.
At the well-known China Giant Panda Protection Center at Wolong,
southwest China's Sichuan Province, for instance, researchers
have achieved a 100 percent survival rate for panda cubs over six
consecutive years.
55 nature reserves have been built, plus a dozen protective
connecting corridors. The total land area of their natural habitats
has increased from 1.4 million hectares in the early 1990s to 2.3
million hectares today.
"These efforts have brought more than 70 percent of the giant
pandas living in the wild under effective protection," Zhao
said.
The previous national survey on giant pandas, carried out at the
end of 2002, showed that the number of pandas in pens was 161. 22
panda cubs were born and raised in less than four years.
Giant pandas are said to have existed since the time when
dinosaurs roamed the earth, and are considered China's "national
treasure".
There are 1,596 giant pandas in the world, most of which can be
found in the mountains of China's western provinces of Sichuan,
Shaanxi and Gansu.
Zhao added that more pandas raised in captivity would be released
to help increase numbers living in the wild.
On April 28, Xiangxiang, a five-year-old giant panda raised by
humans at Wolong was set free.
Zhao, describing the event as a success, said that data
collected from a tracking device embedded in Xiangxiang's collar
proves that the animal has made contact with wild pandas.
(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2006)