The number of giant pandas in the wild totaled 1,206 in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, according to the provincial forestry bureau.

 

The number of giant pandas in captivity climbed to 146, making up 77 percent of the national total, and 76 percent of giant panda communities are in this region, said Yang Dongsheng, director of the bureau.

 

Yang attributed the number growth of giant pandas in the wild to effective protection on the proven habitat, now covering an area of 177 square kilometers in the province, 77 percent of the total in the country.

 

Thanks to scientists' artificial fertilization technologies, a hundred percent of artificially-bred baby pandas have survived in the Panda Research Center in Wolong over the past six years, including 20 since the beginning of this year.

 

The State Forestry Administration announced in June this year that China has more than 1,750 giant pandas, including at least 1,590 in the wild -- a sharp rise from 1,110 reported in 1988, and 161 raised in captivity.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2005)