New concern for future of giant pandas

China’s giant panda could disappear within two or three generations due to encroachment from humans, animal experts have warned.

A spokesman for WWF China said increasing housing and development around the animal’s natural habitat was a concern.

Fan Zhiyong, the species programme director, said: “We are just asking, in the process of developing these areas, should we, can we stop and think and plan with them in mind as a Chinese national treasure and a globally protected species?”

Habitats that were sufficient to host an estimated 1,000 wild pandas three decades ago are now not big enough for the 1,600 pandas currently estimated to be living in the wild.

The intrusion from development has also affected mating, National Geographic reported. The animals need to travel to other areas to find mates to prevent inbreeding, which reduces resistance to disease and lowers reproductive success.

Although China’s panda breeding programme is a success, Mr Fan said action should be taken quickly.

“If these animals are all raised by people, they are no longer a wild species. If at some point in the future, the only way to see the survival of the panda as a species is to rely on artificial insemination, we will know the extinction of this species is not far off,” he added.

The country’s wild panda population is found mostly in south-western Sichuan, northern Shaanxi and north-western Gansu provinces.