CONSERVING THE GIANT PANDA
History Of The Giant Panda
The giant panda was not known outside China (and probably hardly known within China) until
1869 when missionary naturalist and explorer Père Armand David first described a giant
panda specimen, that had been shot by Chinese hunters, to the western world. But, it was not
until 1916 that the first westerner, Hugo Weigold, saw a live giant panda and then it was
another 14 years until the next sighting was reported. In the years following its discovery,
killing of giant pandas became a goal of western museum collectors and hunters, beginning
with Kermit and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., sons of Teddy Roosevelt, who shot a specimen on
an expedition sponsored by the Chicago Field Museum. The first live giant panda was
exported to the USA in 1936 by Ruth Harkness, widow of the wealthy adventurer William
Harkness. This giant panda, Su Lin, ended up at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, where she died of
pneumonia in 1938. Over the next 15 years, at least 16 giant pandas were exported to
Western zoos, but these zoos did not have the expertise to properly look after them nor fresh
bamboo readily available, therefore, none survived beyond 10 years of age.
The exportation of giant pandas from China stopped in 1949 with the Cultural Revolution and
the formation of the People’s Republic of China. A handful of animals were sent to zoos in
Europe and North Korea. Then the re-initiation of diplomatic relations between China and the
USA resulted in a 1972 gift of two giant pandas to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in
Washington, DC. This was followed by similar state gifts to Japan, France, the UK, Mexico,
Spain and Germany.
Today, the North American zoos that have giant pandas are the Toronto Zoo (Ontario),
Smithsonian’s National Zoo (Washington, DC), San Diego Zoo (California), Zoo Atlanta
(Georgia), Memphis Zoo (Tennessee), and Chapultepec Zoo (Mexico City).
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The Giant Panda – An Endangered Species
Giant pandas are listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species. In China, the giant panda is a national treasure and it
has been the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) logo since 1961. The inspiration for this logo came
from Chi-Chi, a giant panda that had arrived at the London Zoo in 1961; the same year the
WWF was formed. The giant panda is one of the most beloved animals in the world and is
perhaps the most powerful symbol in the world for wildlife conservation. It is also one of the
most endangered species in the world, with approximately 1,864 pandas left in the wild up by
268 animals since the last survey in 2003.
One of the main reasons that giant pandas have become endangered is due to habitat
destruction. As the population in China continues to expand, the giant pandas’ habitat is taken
over by development, pushing them into smaller and less livable areas. Habitat destruction
also leads to food shortages. Besides habitat loss, a further threat is the periodic, large-scale
die-off of bamboo at intervals of 15 to 120 years. Poaching of giant pandas was a serious
problem in the past; however, it is no longer considered a threat since the Chinese
government has adopted conservation initiatives for this species.
Today, wild giant pandas live only in portions of six isolated mountain ranges in central China,
specifically in the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi. They live in temperate montane
forests with dense stands of bamboo at altitudes of 1,500 to 3,000 meters (4,921 to 9,843 feet)
above sea level. In the past, the giant panda ranged throughout most of southern and eastern
China, with fossils indicating presence as far south as Myanmar and Vietnam and stretching
north nearly to Beijing.