Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status

Population estimates

• Wild populations
• Approximately 1,040 mature individuals (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016; Swaisgood et al. 2018)
• Approximately 1,800 to 2,060 individuals total (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)
• Includes cubs, juveniles, and subadults
• Range-wide survey efforts by the Chinese government (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)
• Conducted since the 1970s
• Overall population trends
• Wild populations increasing but still vulnerable (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016; Swaisgood et al. 2018)
• Some subpopulations decreasing, especially those that are small and in degraded habitats (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)

Population structure

• Populations small and isolated (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)
• Amount of habitat connectivity not well known
• China's Fourth National Survey (2015):
• Perhaps as many as 33 subpopulations of giant panda; 18 subpopulations with fewer than 10 individuals (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)

IUCN

• Vulnerable (assessed 2016) (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)
• "Downlisted" from Endangered to Vulnerable status after 2016 IUCN assessment (Swaisgood et al. 2018)
• Still considered endangered by the Chinese government and are still protected (Swaisgood et al. 2018)
• Pandas require continued conservation management (see Swaisgood et al. 2018)

CITES

• Appendix I (UNEP 2018)

• 1957
  • First efforts by Chinese government to protect panda habitat (Lü and Kemf 2001)
• 1963
  • Chinese government establishes first reserves to protect giant pandas (Schaller et al. 1985; Lü et al. 2008)
• 1981
  • American scientist George B. Schaller and Chinese scientists Hu Junchu, Pan Wenshi, and Zhu Jing begin in-depth studies at Wolong Nature Reserve (Dolan 1987; Lü and Kemf 2001)
    • Produces seminal research on panda diet, ecology, behavior, and reproduction (Schaller et al. 1985; Schaller 1994; Lü and Kemf 2001)
• 1984
  • Chinese government’s first loans of pandas to zoos in other countries (Lü and Kemf 2001)
• 1987
  • Giant Panda Task Force established by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or AZA (formerly American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums) (Hoessle et al. 1988)
    • Established zoo-based research and breeding programs in collaboration with the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens and Chinese Forest Ministry
• 1988
  • Chinese government enacts the Wildlife Protection Law, banning panda poaching, and giving pandas the highest level of legal protection (Swaisgood, Wang, et al. 2016)
• 1992
  • Giant Panda Conservation Program (National Conservation Program for the Giant Panda and its Habitat) adopted by China’s government (Lü and Kemf 2001; Lü et al. 2008; Garshelis 2009b)
    • Focused on reducing human impacts, managing bamboo habitat, expanding panda reserves, establishing movement corridors, reintroductions, and caring for pandas in managed care
    • Drafted by the Chinese Ministry of Forestry and WWF beginning in 1989
• 1990
  • 13 panda conservation reserves (in 6 remaining forest fragments) in China (Lü et al. 2008)
• 1998
  • Massive flooding and soil erosion prompt China’s government to ban logging in natural forests and offer farmers incentives (cash and grain subsidies) to replant forests (Zhang et al. 2000; Loucks et al. 2001; Lü et al. 2008)
    • Known “Grain-to-Green” policy (Loucks et al. 2001 citing Zhu and Feng 2002)
• 2001
  • 1,100 pandas
  • 34 nature reserves for panda conservation in China (Lü and Kemf 2001)
• 2010
  • Approximately 1,000 to 2,000 estimated to remain in wild populations (Lü et al. 2008)
  • About 60 panda reserves in China (Lü et al. 2008)
• 2021
  • China unites its 67 panda reserves into Giant Panda National Park (Huang et al. 2020)

• Poaching
• China's national laws, international regulations, and other protective measures have helped to nearly eliminate/minimize intentional hunting (Swaisgood et al. 2016; Swaisgood et al. 2018)
• Trade of panda body parts illegal since China joined CITES in 1981 (Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• Skin trade previous a threat to panda populations (Li et al. 2000; Li et al. 2003)
• China's Wildlife Protection Law (1988) banned poaching of pandas, making it a capital offense with severe punishments (Wei et al. 2015; Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• Habitat loss
• Since the 1990s, more than 65 reserves created in China to protect pandas and their habitat (Garshelis 2009b) (Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• 1.4 million hectares of panda habitat (Swaisgood et al. 2016, citing State Forestry Administration 2015)
• Helps to safeguard mountain ecosystems with very high biodiversity (Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• Protects other endangered animals, such as snow leopards, takin, snub-nosed monkeys, and Chinese giant salamanders (Ma et al. 2016; Yue et al. 2024)
• National policies to increase forest cover, such as compensating farmers to replant forest (Wei et al. 2015; Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• Logging banned through much of China (Garshelis 2009b; Wei et al. 2015; Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• China’s Natural Forest Conservation Program (1997) conceived to prevent soil erosion and flooding in human communities (Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• Benefits pandas but not specifically designed for their conservation (Swaisgood et al. 2018)
• Conservation plans to increase habitat connectivity, which aim to restore movement corridors for pandas (Wang et al. 2014; Wei et al. 2015; Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• Population health
• Reintroduction and translocation of pandas born in panda centers and sanctuaries (Mainka et al. 2004; Yang et al. 2018; Wang et al. 2023)
• Genetic stewardship in managed care (Fang et al. 2002; Shan et al. 2014; Dai et al. 2020)
• Scientific monitoring and study
• Strong focus on conservation science by China's government, and international partner NGOs and zoos (Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• Long-term monitoring studies of populations (including range-wide national censuses), surveys of habitat and food abundance, and genetic diversity (Wei et al. 2015; Swaisgood et al. 2016)
• International efforts to keep attention and scientific study focused on giant pandas (Swaisgood et al. 2018)
• "The Giant Panda has been the focus of one of the most intense, high profile efforts to recover an endangered species" (Swaisgood et al. 2016)

SDZWA celebrates 25 years of giant panda research, in collaboration with China conservation partners.

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Dolan (1987)
Loucks et al. (2001)
Loucks et al. (2003)
Lü et al. (2008)
Schaller et al. (1985)
Swaisgood et al. (2016, 2017)
Wei et al. (2015)
Wenshi (1995)