Threats

Deforestation and Habitat Fragmentation

Due to increasing populations, self-serving human beings have engaged in massive deforestations in order to obtain more land for farming, residential and commercial purposes. In China, bamboo forests are one of the “victims” of deforestation. These acts have led to a decline in food sources for giant pandas and have threatened their survival directly. In addition, the flowering of bamboo usually takes decades (sometimes even up to 120 years), thus depriving giant pandas of their main food source for 10 or more years until the bamboo has regenerated and grown tall⁵.

In addition, as mentioned in WWF website⁶, the developments of roads and communities have led to habitat fragmentation. This worsens the situation as giant pandas are prevented from moving from one region to another to look for food and mates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Low Reproduction Rates

Deforestation and habitat fragmentation have also affected the reproduction rates of the giant panda. As observed in QinLing, female pandas started reproducing a year earlier when bamboo was abundant⁷. Hence the decrease in bamboo quantity and immobility due to deforestation and habitat fragmentation may have slowed down the reproduction rate, exposing giant pandas to threats of extinction. The decrease in habitats has also led to a loss of biodiversity as giant pandas are unable to move to another region easily for mating.

Poaching

Poaching is also one of the causes of giant panda endangerment. Giant pandas are poached due for its fur owing to its unique colour.

A study⁸ (Li, Guo, Yang, Wang & Niemelä, 2003) was also conducted to examine the effect of poaching quantitatively. It was shown that poaching female giant pandas is related to lower population size and a higher risk of extinction. When poaching intensity is very high, breeding success will also be affected when male giant pandas were poached. Hence this illustrates the effects of poaching and the importance of putting a stop to it.

Even though giant pandas were widely known in China, they were regarded as creatures of mystery to the outside world before the 1930s. The fascination with this ‘unknown’ animal led to intense curiosity. People from around the world, particularly hunters, wanted to have a chance to look at a giant panda up close. This led to heavy poaching. In fact, such was the allure of the giant pandas that the giant panda was once considered the ultimate prize to trophy hunters. In the 1930s, poaching was not confined to hunters. Museum collectors killed giant pandas as well until 1936, when Ruth Harkness captured an endearing infant, which led to a worldwide captivation for the species⁹.

Natural Disasters

However, man is not the only factor in the endangerment of giant pandas. Natural disasters play a part in it as well. An 8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008 struck China’s Sichuan Province, impacting approximately a quarter of panda reserves in the Min mountain region, resulted in widespread landslides and a mass wipe-out of some bamboo species, causing further fragmentation of habitat, threatening the survival of giant pandas¹⁰.

To a large extent, natural disasters are uncontrollable. However, the opposite is true for humans. We should have better control over human effects on the environment. A reversal of actions and attitudes will save the species. Thus, there is a need to implement conservation programs to protect these vulnerable species from more harm.