POPULATION
Because giant pandas live in bamboo thickets on steep mountain slopes, counting them is difficult. Surveys
in the 1980s gave an estimate of around 1,000 individuals in the wild, but that may have been an
underestimate. There are now thought to be approximately 600 remaining, but a new survey started in 1999
should give a more accurate figure. So far, the Chinese government has established 33 panda reserves,
which should give protection to about 60% of the giant panda populations.
Major population: On present evidence the greatest number of giant pandas occur in the Minshan
Mountains, while the Qinling Mountains have the highest population density.

THREATS
The main threats to giant pandas are habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching. Their habitat has been
severely reduced by logging and forest clearance for agricultural settlement. Geographic Information System
(GIS) analysis and surveys done in the 1970s and 1980s revealed that the area occupied by giant pandas
had been reduced from more than 29,500km2 to only about 13,000km2. Because individual giant panda
populations in these fragmented forests are small, most may not be viable in the long term, and inbreeding
in small populations is a potential problem. The Chinese government instigated a ban on commercial
logging in natural forests in the southwest of the country in 1998, which is welcome news for giant pandas
outside the reserves.

Pandas have a low reproductive rate and populations may take a long time to recover if individuals are killed.
Although poachers are given severe penalties, some illegal hunting continues, although it is not as bad as it
was in the 1980s. Many hunters set snares and traps for deer and other animals, especially musk deer, and
incidental giant panda deaths have been documented.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, many giant pandas died in the Minshan and Qionglai Mountains
following the flowering and die-back of bamboo over wide areas. Bamboo die-back is a natural phenomenon,
occurring every 15-120 years according to the species. Once the bamboo dies it can take a year to
regenerate from seed and it can take as long as 20 years before a new crop can support a giant panda
population. Bamboo die-back may have been a positive feature of giant population dynamics in the distant
past, enforcing emigration and promoting out-breeding and maintenance of a healthy population. However,
now human settlements form a barrier to giant panda movements and they can no longer disperse to other
areas of suitable habitat.