Pandas could be extinct in 2-3 generations: report
 
 
August 17, 2009

 
A panda cub is seen playing at the Giant Panda Breeding Centre in 
Chengdu. There are about 1,590 pandas living in the wild around China, 
mostly in southwestern Sichuan, northern Shaanxi and northwestern Gansu 
provinces. A total of 180 have been bred in captivity, according to 
reports.
 
A panda cub is seen playing at the Giant Panda Breeding Centre in 
Chengdu. There are about 1,590 pandas living in the wild around China, 
mostly in southwestern Sichuan, northern Shaanxi and northwestern Gansu 
provinces. A total of 180 have been bred in captivity, according to 
reports.
Photograph by: Peter Parks, AFP

BEIJING - China's giant panda could be extinct in just two to three 
generations as rapid economic development is infringing on its way of 
life, state media said on Monday, citing an expert at conservation 
group WWF.

The problem is that the pandas' habitat is being split up into ever 
smaller patches, preventing the animals from roaming freely for mating 
partners and in turn endangering their gene pool, the Global Times 
reported.

"If the panda cannot mate with those from other habitats, it may face 
extinction within two to three generations," said Fan Zhiyong, Beijing
-based species programme director for WWF. "We have to act now."

The risk of inbreeding is increasing, threatening to reduce the panda's 
resistance to diseases and lowering its ability to reproduce, the paper 
said.

Fan said that highways pose major restrictions on the panda's free 
movement.

"We may have to give up building some infrastructure," Fan said. "I 
don't know the solution to this problem."

There are about 1,590 pandas living in the wild around China, mostly in 
southwestern Sichuan, northern Shaanxi and northwestern Gansu 
provinces. A total of 180 have been bred in captivity, according to 
earlier reports.

In addition to environmental constraints, the animals' notoriously low 
libidos have frustrated efforts to boost their numbers.

Breeders have resorted to tactics such as showing them "panda porn" 
videos of other pandas mating, and putting males through "sexercises" 
aimed at training up their pelvic and leg muscles for the rigours of 
copulation.