Giant
Panda Cub Photo Gallery
Panda Cams and Updates
Giant Panda—Endangered Grass-Eating Bear
"The panda is more than an animal, more than mere muscle, bone, and skin. It is a symbol—a symbol of China's conservation effort and of the world's."
—George B. Schaller, Naturalist and Author
A Treasured Symbol
While the giant panda has come today to symbolize the plight of the
world’s vanishing wildlife, it was unknown to the world outside
of China before the end of the 19th century. Historical records from
ancient China suggest that the panda was considered rare and a symbol
of bravery. During the Han Dynasty two millennia ago, the giant panda
was the most highly treasured animal among the emperor’s private
collection of 40 rare species. By the second century C.E., it was thought
to be semi-divine. The poet Bai Juyi credited the panda with mystical
powers capable of warding off natural disasters and exorcising evil
spirits. Panda skins were offered as gifts during important state occasions.
Live pandas and several pelts were once sent to Japan to help seal trade
agreements. However, only once China’s Qing Dynasty was slowly
forced to open to trade with the West in the late-1800s did the panda
become known to the wider world.
The French missionary, Père Armand David, while working in China was brought a dead specimen in 1869 which was dissected in Paris one year later. However, it was not until 1914 that westerners saw the giant panda alive, which set off a wave of hunting expeditions to acquire a giant panda pelt or capture one live. To stem this tide, China prohibited the capture of giant pandas in 1939. The first cub was brought out of China in 1936 for the Brookfield Zoo, and the giant panda quickly became highly sought after by other zoos. But by 1945 there were only five giant pandas outside of China, and by 1953 no giant pandas were alive in captivity, even in China.
 |
| It takes a village. Panda conservation requires strong cooperation among government officials, wildlife conservation groups, scientists, zoos, and people living near panda habitat. |
Giant Panda Conservation Involves Complex Problems
Panda fossils have been found widely in present day Burma, Vietnam,
and particularly China. In contrast, pandas today live in a few mountain
ranges in central China—a small fraction of their former home.
There are only about 1,600 living in the wild in China, about another
180 in Chinese reserves and breeding centers, and fewer than 20 in other zoos around the world.
The giant panda is listed as endangered in the World Conservation Union’s
Red List of Threatened Animals.
These are the key factors threatening the giant panda’s survival:
- Habitat destruction. Human population growth and increase in agricultural, mining, and logging activities have reduced the panda’s range by one-half just over the last 20 years. As a result, panda populations are small and isolated, confined to high ridges, and hemmed in by cultivation. A positive step was a logging ban put in place in 1998 which has put most panda habitat off-limits to commercial logging. The Chinese have aggressively been fostering reforestation, which has converted marginal agricultural land into panda habitat.
- Bamboo shortages. Bamboo—a grass—is subject to periodic large-scale die-offs. When these occurred in the past, pandas just migrated to areas with healthy bamboo supplies. Habitat fragmentation today usually makes such migrations impossible.
- Low reproductive rates. Giant pandas are solitary and have very short receptivity periods for breeding. One or two cubs are born at a time, and infant mortality rates are high. Young pandas stay with their mother for one to two years after which she will ready to breed again. This makes it difficult for panda numbers to bounce back after declines.
- Hunting. Poaching for valuable panda pelts was a serious problem in the past; however as a result of law enforcement and education, poaching has been reduced to a point where it is not considered a major problem. Nevertheless, giant pandas are still periodically killed by poachers’ snares set for musk deer.
The National Zoo in an International Effort
to Save the Panda
Giant panda conservation is not easy. Some 32 wildlife reserves have
been established in China to ensure that the remaining wild pandas have
adequate space to live without human interference. Despite China’s
growing population and its need for forest resources, there are reasons
for hope that panda habitat can be conserved.
Nevertheless, there is still much that humans do not know about pandas. Working together with Chinese panda experts, scientists from the National Zoo and others from around the world are trying to unlock the panda’s many secrets in order to increase their numbers and ensure their future survival in the wild.
 |
| Pandas are instant hits at zoos. Those at the National Zoo are no exception! |
A population of giant pandas in zoos acts as an insurance policy against extinction and an accessible group of animals for study, education, and, possibly in the future, reintroductions into the wild. On December 6, 2000, a three-year-old male, Tian Tian, and a two-year-old female, Mei Xiang, arrived from China’s Giant Panda Research and Conservation Center in Wolong, Sichuan Province.
On July 9, 2005, Mei Xiang's and
Tian Tian's first baby's birth was an epic event for the Zoo and for
panda fans everywhere, and a triumph for National Zoo science.
Tai Shan left for China on February 4, 2010, but you can still see Mei and Tian, famous ambassadors for their species,
at the Zoo’s state-of-the-art Fujifilm
Giant Panda Habitat on the Zoo's award-winning
Asia Trail.
National Zoo scientists have been on the forefront of panda research
and other conservation initiatives. Since 2000, these have included
a wide range of basic research activities, training, monitoring systems
with two basic thrusts:
- Increasing the capacity of Chinese partners to protect habitat, the giant panda, and other species.
- Maintaining a healthy, viable population of giant pandas in zoos to support those in the wild.
You Can Help!
To show your support for giant panda conservation and the seminal
role the National Zoo is playing to ensure its survival, Adopt
a Giant Panda! Your donation
will help fund exhibit improvement, equipment, and medical care for
the National Zoo’s “bamboo bears” and the 2,000 other
animals that live at the National Zoo and its Conservation and Research
Center in Front Royal, Virginia.
An Adopt a Giant Panda package makes
a terrific gift. We’ll even include a personalized gift card with
your order!
Because your contribution is dedicated directly to animal care, you truly make a difference!
