Wild giant pandas in China are doing well. The latest census by China’s State Forestry Administration shows the panda population has grown by 268 to a total of 1,864 since the last survey ending in 2003.

A mini-baby boom last year has pushed up the number of pandas bred in captivity in China to 217, state media said today.

The animal cruelty video that makes Heather Mills McCartney cry has finally triggered a Chinese government pledge to stamp out the trade in cat and dog fur, it emerged today.

China today released a panda bred in captivity into the wild for the first time, and the animal scampered into a nearby bamboo forest where he will be monitored via satellite.

The head of China’s environmental protection administration has resigned, the official Xinhua News Agency said today, following a chemical spill that has polluted a major river and embarrassed President Hu Jintao’s government.