18 Jun
2006- Xi’an, China – China’s State Forestry Administration
and the Shaanxi provincial government have committed
to protecting a giant panda population in the
rugged Qinling Mountains in central China.
Chinese officials attending
a conference here offered support for a more effective
plan for restoring and enlarging the panda's habitat,
as well as reinforcing panda research and promoting
local community development through eco-tourism.
"These commitments are
a milestone for giant panda conservation in Qinling
and offers new hope for the survival of these
pandas,” said WWF China Species Programme Director
Dr Fan Longqing.
The Qinling Mountains, encompassing
a total area of 52,000km2, are home to about 200–300
pandas. Rapid development in China, human expansion
and disturbances have become major threats to
the animal, which has little connection to other
panda populations.
Compared with pandas in Sichuan,
for example, the Qinling pandas have smaller skulls,
larger molars, and boast a dark brown chest patch
and brown ventral pelage. Based on these differences,
Chinese scientists recognized the Qinling giant
panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis) as
a panda sub-species in 2005.
"Qinling giant panda populations
have been isolated from that of Sichuan giant
pandas for 12,000 years," said Dr. Fan. "Judging
from their genes, Qinling pandas are closer to
their ancestors while Sichuan pandas experienced
a faster rate of evolution."
In late 2002, the Shaanxi provincial
government, with the support of WWF, sanctioned
five new panda reserves and five panda corridors,
increasing protected areas in Qinling by 130,000ha.
In total, 14 giant panda reserves and corridors
covering 4,000km2 have now been established, providing
effective protection to the Qinling giant panda
and its habitat.
WWF is also supporting conservation-based
community activities in the region, established
a wildlife monitoring and patrolling team, and
is working with local authorities to implement
a plan to mitigate potential ecological problems
caused by random tourism development.
END NOTES:
• The Qinling panda population
was identified as a sub-species in 2005 by a research
team led by professor Fang Shengguo from Zhejiang
University. The findings were published in the
US Mammal Zoology Magazine in April 2005.
