Wildlife Conservation: China’s Panda Protection Efforts Now Paying Off

The Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Province has helped in increasing the population of this rare bear.

“Giant pandas are believed to have been in existence in China since 8 million years. Most animal species are known to last for a maximum of 5 million years and then become extinct. But the giant panda is still going strong in China,” explained Qinyun Xia, a young female tour guide with the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding in China’s southwestern Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu. Speaking to Cameroon Tribune on May 23, 2017, the tour guide said the 60-hectare man-made park is one of a number of measures undertaken by Chinese wildlife authorities in recent years to save giant pandas from extinction.

Created in 1987, the wildlife sanctuary, which began with only six rescued pandas, also runs a research institute. Over 3 million tourists visit the base a year. “We keep 180 pandas, while 1,864 live in the wild in China and 400 are held in captivity,” explained Qinyun. Another benefit of China’s panda protection drive is the longer lives the animals now enjoy. “The lifespan of a panda in the wild is 18 to 19 years, but those kept in the Chengdu research station live from 25 to 30 years,” Qinyun disclosed.

At the entrance to the Chengdu breeding centre are awareness messages to help protect pandas: “Nature never deceives us, we deceive ourselves,” by Swiss-born philosopher and writer, Jean Jacques Rousseau; and “The greatness of a nation and moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated,” by former Indian Prime Minister, Indira Ghandi. In acknowledgement of China’s wildlife protection efforts, the International Union for Conserv...