News Digest

It’s in black and white: China’s wild panda population up nearly 17%

China’s population of wild giant pandas jumped nearly 17 percent over a decade — state media reported, citing an official survey — with conservation measures credited as being behind the increase. The investigation by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) found that by the end of 2013 China had 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild, marking an increase of 268 individuals, or 16.8 percent, the official Xinhua news agency reported Saturday. The SFA said conservation efforts led to the increase, according to Xinhua.

This increase in the population of wild giant pandas is a testament to the commitment made by the Chinese government for the last 30-plus years to wild panda conservation.

Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at the World Wildlife Fund

The report also said that as of June last year there were 42 pandas, including adults and cubs, overseas in 12 countries. China has cultivated a global fascination with pandas into its diplomacy by sending the animals to overseas zoos where they have proven a wildly popular draw. Pandas, whose natural habitat lies in mountainous southwestern China, have a notoriously low reproductive rate and are under pressure from factors such as habitat loss. Underscoring continuing worries, however, the SFC survey showed that 223 of the wild giant pandas, or 12 percent of the population, were classified as high risk, Xinhua said.