After a baby panda is born, the mother panda will eat less, and will devote her time and energy to feeding and training the baby, which is very laborious, and thus reduces her health and life span.
The Role of Panda Captive Breeding
At breeding centers, researchers help the mother pandas to take care of their cubs, thus helping to ensure the survival of both.
Pandas in captivity can live 30 years or longer, while wild pandas usually live up to 20 years. There were 422 captive breeding pandas at the end of 2015. Some of these are introduced to the wild each year.
Recommended tours:
A Vulnerable Species Needing Help
A wild panda at Wolong Nature ReserveThe giant panda is a vulnerable species, due to loss of habitat and very low birth rate (one cub per two years). Female pandas usually can give birth to only one baby panda at a time, and newborn pandas are extremely fragile. Therefore to save the species, China has begun captive breeding programs.
China Protects Giant Pandas
China is the only natural home of giant pandas, and wild giant pandas can only be found in deep forests in some parts of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces.
According to the World Wildlife Fund's research, in 2015, the wild giant panda population reached 1,864, thanks to the success of captive breeding. Read more about How China Protects Giant Pandas - Pandas Now NOT Endangered!
Recommended tours:
Contact us for a private tour of Leshan and Mount Emei.
Breeding Centers
A giant panda at Wolong Panda Research CenterThere are 4 main captive breeding centers/bases in China open to the public, all accessible from Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
- Dujiangyan Panda Base - Panda Keeper Program
- Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center - Meet panda babies.
- Wolong Panda Research Center - Native Panda Habitat
- Bifengxia Giant Panda Base - the Largest Giant Panda Base
You can visit a panda breeding center or even volunteer to help look after the pandas. See Giant Panda Volunteer Programs.