China to Better Protection of Giant Pandas

The giant pandas will come here to get wildlife training. The best candidates are strong ones, two years old or more, CCTV reported on May 29.

Zhang Hemin,who works at Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve, Said: "Giant pandas should be slowly trained to be away from the humans' caretaking and away from a prepared food-supply in order to finally regain their wild nature. They should learn to survive only through their own efforts."

Another effort is being made for panda protection. For the first time, China is creating a comprehensive record on each giant panda. The files contain information on health, illnesses and blood ties to other captive pandas.

But as these efforts are being made, another problem threatens the survival of the species. The forests in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces where most giant pandas live, have been extensively cut. The pandas' habitat has been reduced to less than ten thousand square kilometres from the fifty thousand twenty years ago.

Most giant pandas live in groups of less than fifty, some even less than ten. Experts warn that the resulting inbreeding will hamper the population growth of the endangered species, posing yet another threat to the giant pandas.



People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/