Wild Giant Panda Numbers Larger Than Previously Thought
Posted on June 21, 2006
The BBC reports that there are more giant pandas living in China than previously thought. Instead of just 1,000 wild giant pandas there might be as many as 3,000. The idea is based on a new study of pandas in the Wanglang Nature Reserve that found twice as many pandas as expected live in the park.
The study also provides evidence that pandas in the most important habitat of its kind have not suffered genetically over this period - there is no evidence of the sort of inbreeding or low genetic diversity that might threaten the species' long-term survival.If this turns out to be true it would some surprising good news for a change in the world of animal conservation."DNA profiling in pandas can give us much more precision in identifying individuals and hence population numbers," said study co-author Prof Michael Bruford of Cardiff University, UK.
The results suggest that about 66 pandas live in the Wanglang Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, more than twice as many as were estimated in a survey conducted in 1998.
"If that were to be repeated across the range there could be as many as 2-3,000 pandas in the wild but a very important point is that this work needs to be replicated in other reserves," he added.