Are Pandas Endangered, and How Many Are Left in the World?

As one of the rarest bears in the world, these distinctive black and white bears live in the mountains of central China. Adult pandas can weigh as much as 330 pounds, even though their diet consists almost entirely of bamboo. However, due to agricultural growth, their habits are shrinking. Does this mean the giant panda is an endangered species? And how many are left worldwide?

Incredible Panda Facts

• The giant panda is China’s national animal; pandas are also China’s legal property.
• In 1972, when President Richard Nixon visited communist China, China gifted two giant pandas to First Lady Pat Nixon as a goodwill gesture and a symbol of U.S.-China relations.
• In 1984, China stopped gifting pandas and, instead, gave pandas on loan to various countries for a limited engagement.
• Under “Panda Diplomacy,” zoos can keep pandas outside of China only for 10 years, then they must be returned.

Scientific Name and Appearance

Ailuropoda melanoleuca (giant panda) is also called panda bear. Fossils from Vietnam, Myanmar, and China indicate the panda bear lived throughout eastern Asia as far back as 2.6 million years ago. Their classification has been controversial. Some would place them with bears, raccoons, or in a family of their own. Today, most agree that bears are the giant panda’s closest relative.

Giant pandas have bulky bodies and a round face. Their iconic features include black ears and black eye patches on a white face. Their black limbs and shoulders strike a hard contrast to their white torsos.

Reproduction

Female pandas can become pregnant for only 24 to 72 hours each year. After mating, implantation of a fertilized ovum will take two to three months. However, fetal growth and development will last only about two months.

In the end, gestation will average from 90-184 days. With such a short growth phase, the baby panda will weigh about four ounces, which is 1/800 of the mother’s weight. Giant pandas produce the smallest offspring of all other placental mammals.

A newborn panda is born blind and virtually helpless. It is solely dependent on the mother for warmth and nourishment. It will take about 45 days for the eyes to open and another 75-80 days for the panda to begin walking. Due to their helpless state, newborn pandas will live in a den for the first 100-120 days. By fourteen months, the infant is ready to consume bamboo, and by 18-24 months, the mother will wean the baby completely. The lifespan of a panda in the wild is approximately 20 years.

Habitat

In the wild, giant pandas cannot survive outside of bamboo forests. Human agriculture and urban development continue to destroy the forest habitat of the panda. Currently, they are restricted to remote fragments of mountainous regions in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu. This habitat is now only about 5,000 square miles.

Due to their size, giant pandas have few predators. However, snow leopards, jackals, and yellow-throated martens can kill and eat panda cubs. Additionally, poachers illegally hunt pandas for their fur, which sells for a high price on the black market.

Before 2016, largely because of their shrinking habitat, pandas were considered an endangered species. In the 1980s, the number of pandas was estimated to be only 1000.

How Many Are Left in the World?

Since the 1990s, Chinese officials have made a concerted effort to increase the population of this famous animal. By creating sprawling reserves across several mountain ranges, China has expanded from 14 reserve sites to more than 40. China has also implemented cooperative international arrangements, which provide reserve management and captive breeding training. These efforts have saved the giant panda from extinction. Today, the number of giant pandas is estimated to be 1800 – 2000.

Are Pandas Endangered?

Before 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considered the giant panda an endangered species. Because China continues to successfully restore the bamboo forest habitat, the status of the panda has changed to vulnerable.

Experts believe that protecting pandas will also help protect other species. These efforts to restore natural ecosystems have benefited other rare and endangered species. The populations of Siberian tigers, Amur leopards, and Asian elephants have also increased significantly.

China’s government is cautious about removing the giant panda from the endangered list. As Chinese agencies continue enforcing poaching bans and expanding bamboo habitats, there is one other risk factor that involves us all: climate change. In the next 80 years, climate change may eliminate 35% of these natural bamboo habitats, which will potentially lead to another decline.

Having long been a symbol of the global conservation movement, the giant panda population continues to grow. The aggressive investment by China and international groups to save the giant panda has paid off.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/saqib memon