Yahoo - AFP, 1 March 2015
Investigation
by the State Forestry Administration found that by the end of 2013
China had
1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild, marking an increase of 268
individuals,
or 16.8% (AFP Photo/Ed Jones)
|
Beijing
(AFP) - China's population of wild giant pandas jumped nearly 17 percent over a
decade -- state media reported, citing an official survey -- with conservation
measures credited as being behind the increase.
The
investigation by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) found that by the end
of 2013 China had 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild, marking an increase of
268 individuals, or 16.8 percent, the official Xinhua news agency reported
Saturday.
The figures
compared with a previous survey carried out in 2003, Xinhua said.
The SFA
said conservation efforts led to the increase, according to Xinhua.
Besides
population, panda habitat also increased 11.8 percent to 2.58 million hectares
compared with the 2003 survey, Xinhua said.
China had
375 giant pandas in captivity at the end of 2013, the report said, with 166
males and 209 females.
The total
figure marked a gain of 211, or 128.7 percent, compared with 2003, Xinhua said,
citing SFC figures.
The report
also said that as of June last year there were 42 pandas, including adults and
cubs, overseas in 12 countries.
China has
cultivated a global fascination with pandas into its diplomacy by sending the
animals to overseas zoos where they have proven a wildly popular draw.
Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) welcomed the increase in the giant panda numbers.
Two pandas
are seen eating bamboo at the research base
for giant panda breeding, in
Chengdu, the capital of China's
southwestern province of Sichuan, on November
22,
2011 (AFP Photo/Liu Jin)
|
Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) welcomed the increase in the giant panda numbers.
"The
rise in the population of wild giant pandas is a victory for conservation and
definitely one to celebrate," Ginette Hemley, WWF senior vice president of
wildlife conservation, said in a release.
"This
increase in the population of wild giant pandas is a testament to the
commitment made by the Chinese government for the last 30-plus years to wild
panda conservation," Hemley added.
Pandas,
whose natural habitat lies in mountainous southwestern China, have a
notoriously low reproductive rate and are under pressure from factors such as
habitat loss.
Underscoring
continuing worries, however, the SFC survey showed that 223 of the wild giant
pandas, or 12 percent of the population, were classified as high risk, Xinhua
said.
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