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Pandas Face Extinction In Two-Three Generations
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by Annina Bergman | August 17, 2009 at 10:17 am
141 views | 10 Recommendations | 2 comments
China's giant panda might be exinct in as little as two generations, according to a report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The panda's natural habitat is constantly shrinking, being split up in small patches that do not connect. This is a threat to their genetic diversity, as the pandas' choice of mating partner is limited.
Fan Zhiyoung from the Chinese branch of WWF said that highways are a major problem for the panda population. As humans take over areas that formerly were bamboo forest, pandas are often left with no more than one square kilometer of forest.
There are about 1,590 pandas living in the wild around China, mostly in southwestern Sichuan, northern Shaanxi and northwestern Gansu provinces. A total of 180 have been bred in captivity, according to earlier reports.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 13:50 on August 17th, 2009
Pandas are more likely to survive than freedom.
at 17:02 on August 17th, 2009
I hope conservationists will step up their efforts to protect the giant panda.
Kudos to the panda conservation program spearheaded by China, and followed by zoos around the world, mostly in the US.