Wild pandas and their habitat in Wolong

Based on the third national panda census conducted in 2001, there are 140-150 wild giant pandas inside Wolong Nature Reserve, the largest wild panda population across its whole geographic range in China.  Giant pandas in the reserve spend most of the year in forests of elevations between 2,600 and 3,000 m and their staple food consists of two bamboo species, arrow bamboo (Bashania fangiana), distributed within the range of 2,500 to 3,400 m, and umbrella bamboo (Fargesia robusta), distributed throughout areas 1,600 to 2,650 m in elevation.  Almost 99% of the diet of giant pandas consists of bamboo, and in Wolong they consume these two bamboo species in a seasonal pattern: in the winter season the young stems of arrow bamboo are eaten; in spring and summer seasons the young umbrella bamboo shoots are consumed; and in the fall season pandas mainly subsist on the leaves of arrow bamboo.

Giant Panda habitat includes areas that provide bamboo, pandas’ staple food, and shelter for daily activities and reproduction. Suitability of panda habitat depends on many abiotic (e.g., slope and elevation) and biotic (e.g., bamboo and forest cover) conditions, as well as on the degree of human impacts.  The forests in the reserve grow in several vertical distributed zones, from evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forests at lower elevations (approximately 1,500 m above sea level), to subalpine coniferous forests at higher elevations (approximately 2,700 m above sea level) with an average canopy cover of 56%. Growing under the forest canopies are 11 species of bamboo, two of which, arrow bamboo (Bashania fangiana) and umbrella bamboo (Fargesia robusta),  are wild pandas’ staple food. Through time series analyses of satellite imagery of Wolong, it was found that high-quality panda habitat has declined inside the reserve since the 1960s.  This, together with an increase in habitat isolation from surrounding areas (which include other panda nature reserves), threaten the long-term conservation of the pandas in the wild.  As a result, the panda population in Wolong is separated into at least three sub-populations with low genetic exchange and faces a high risk of extinction within this century.

Sept 2nd, 2007, a wild juvenile panda found by Wei’s field guide in Wolong Nature Reserve

In-captive pandas in Wolong

While the panda habitat and population declined in the wild, the in-captive panda breeding program in China Wolong Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center made some break-throughs, mainly due to the huge amount of government, private and international funds invested in such programs.  The in-captive panda infant mortality rate has decreased to below 10% in the past five years in Wolong, and by late 2007 the center inside Wolong owned more than 130 pandas, many of which are currently on-loan in zoos around the world, including San Diego Zoo, Smithsonian Zoo in Washington D. C. of US, Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna of Austria. 

In-captive juvenile pandas in Wolong Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center

With the ultimate goal of releasing in-captive pandas to the wild to replenish the diminishing population, the center initiated the first ever Giant Panda Reintroduction Project in 2003.  The first attempt ended with the death of the reintroduced male panda and a second stage has been started since late 2007.

April 28th, 2006, Xiangxiang was released to its pre-reintroduction site afte three years of training

Interested in more information on Wolong and Pandas? The following references may help!

Schaller et al. 1985. Giant Pandas of Wolong. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

O’ Brien et al. 1994. “Pandas, people and policy” Nature 369: 179-180.

Hu 2001. Giant Panda Research. Shanghai, Science and Technology Press (in Chinese).

Liu et al. 2001. “Ecological degradation in protected areas: The case of Wolong Nature Reserve for giant pandas” Science 292: 98-101.

Loucks et al. 2001. “Giant Pandas in a changing landscape” Science 294: 1465.

Lindburg and Baragona. 2004. Giant Panda: Biology and Conservation. Berkeley, University of California Press.

State Forestry Administration. 2006. The Third National Panda Census Report. Chinese Forestry Press. (In Chinese).