The main problem, said Fan Zhiyong, who is the species program director for the WWF in China, is that the Panda's forest habitat is being fragmented through the country's rapid economic development, particularly the construction of highways, which is threatening to isolate the panda populations from one another.
"The construction of highways at nature reserves permanently dissects the panda's habitat, obstructing migration, mating and healthy gene exchange," the expert said, adding over a period of ten years, from 1975 to 1985, the "bamboo bear's" habitat has decreased by more than half, from 29,500 to 13,000 square km (11,390 - 5,019 square miles).
"Highways and hydropower stations are separating pandas from each other and their homes," he said. "If the panda cannot mate with those from other habitats, it may face extinction within two to three generations."
The panda's habitat will become increasingly cut off and isolated in the next 20 years, Fan Zhiyong warned, "We may have to give up building some infrastructure or the panda will face a bigger threat to its existence than in 1980."
China started panda conservation in the 1950s. Through the combined efforts of locals, the WWF and the government, the number of giant pandas in China has increased by 1,000 since the 1970s. According to a WWF's research, there are about 1.600 pandas living in forests in China's Gansu, Sichuan and Shanxi provinces, and also 239 living in captivity.
