Kung Fu Giant Panda – Conservation or Big Business?

The Giant Panda is without a doubt the most famous icon for endangered species in the world despite there being dozens? hundreds? or thousands of other species that are more threatened or endangered (see the post on Asiatic Lions from earlier in the journey in April).

There are approximately 1500 Giant Pandas left on the planet today. This is despite being surrounded by a human population exceeding 1.3 billion people (to put 1,300,000,000 into perspective, if you wanted to count to 1.3 billion it would take you about 43 years to do so!). These bears have lots of human neighbours ... although they do live in very remote regions!

Giant Pandas feed primarily on bamboo one of the fastest growing plants in the world and also one of the largest grass species! Depending on where they are their target food source may be any one of 30 different species of bamboo. They prefer the delicious (and nutritious) new shoots so their movements (as with so many wildlife species around the planet) follow food availability.

It is extremely difficult (virtually impossible?) to see a Giant Panda in the wild. They live in remote mountainous regions of China and even biologists who have worked in Giant Panda habitats for years (like friends Gong Jien and Zhang Zhelin) rarely get a glimpse. In fact Gong Jien who has worked in the field doing Giant Panda habitat work has only seen a Giant Panda on two occasions in all the years he has worked with this charismatic species.

If you really want to see one then your only realistic options are to either visit a zoo (and there a quite a few around the world that have them … as will be discussed) or visit one of the Giant Panda breeding centres. There are two such facilities in the region around Chengdu, one in Chengdu itself and the other about 120 kilometres away at the Ya’an Bi Fang Gorge (Bifengxia Panda Base).This is the facility where Giant Pandas from the Wolong Reserve were moved after the devastating earthquake of 2008 (see the post on Chengdu to learn more about the earthquake that hit Chengdu).

The Bifengxia Panda Breeding Centre serves four main purposes:
1)    Giant Panda breeding
2)    Providing Giant Panda to zoos in Asia and around the world
3)    Raising and releasing captive bred Giant Panda into the wild
4)    Tourism – Giant Panda viewing

There are 149 pandas in the Bifengxia Panda facility including a couple of youngsters (about 7 months old held in the Panda Kindergarten), a few 1.5 year olds and the adults.

Giant Pandas can be leased to zoos for the modest price of approximately one million US dollars per year and some international zoos have lease arrangements for periods up to 10 years. If a Giant Panda cub is born while the parents are in the foreign zoo the cub still belongs to China and must be returned at three years of age.

In fact there are a number of Giant Panda here at the Bifengxia Panda Base that were returned from their overseas birthplaces (i.e. whether they hold dual citizenship I am not sure). An old Scottish friend (Ian Stewart) sent me a note via Facebook the other day suggesting I could go see the Giant Pandas at the Edinburgh Zoo … that pair in fact was provided from this facility.

One would suspect (at least I would) that the primary purpose of the facility would be to raise Giant Panda for their re-introduction in the wild but it does not seem to be the case. A male was released into the wild in 2008 but he lasted only just over one year … he was found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Chinese biologists believe that he likely had a fight with another wild male (over female or perhaps territory) and lost the battle.

They are going to try another release soon. A 2 year old female has been isolated in a semi-wild enclosure with her parents and is scheduled to be released this fall (2012). It will be interesting to see how she fares in the mountains of Sichuan.

And yes… the Giant Panda is a tourism mega species. Dollars, Euros, Yen and Yuen are generated in so many ways (not only through leasing to zoos) in the name of the Giant Panda. Tourists from all over China and around the world visit the breeding centres to view, photograph and learn about the species that has captured the hearts of millions (if not billions). You just have to look at the tourist shops lined up outside the gates of the Bifengxia Panda Base to get a taste of the commercialization of the Giant Panda.

So… what is the future for the Giant Panda? There are only 1500 adults left in the wild and many conservationists feel the species is on the pathway to extinction or while others feel it is already genetically extinct.

What does that mean? Sure, there are over one thousands individuals in the wild… but is that enough to keep the species going? To have a healthy species… we need a ‘viable population’ one large enough that can withstand unexpected changes or events (disease, drought, climate change) and has enough individuals to have genetic diversity. We certainly have a viable human population but when it comes to the Giant Panda I am not so sure.

Gong Jien and Staff at the Bifengxia Panda Base