As one of the world's oldest living beings, the giant panda has been around for 9 million years. Known as the living fossil, the giant panda, which is one of the world's most endangered species, is the logo of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Statistics from the State Forestry Administration show some 1,590 pandas live in the wild and there are more than 210 in captivity worldwide.

Due to changes in geology, climate and increasing human activities, panda habitats have decreased sharply. They only live in China's Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

From the 1970s to mid-1980s, the blossoming of bamboos resulted in the death of around 200 wild pandas in 1974. To save the giant panda, less than 1,000 around 1983, the Chinese government and the WWF set up the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong of Sichuan Province in 1980.

Of China's 16 pandas leased to foreign countries, 10 are from Wolong. During his recent visit to Australia, President Hu Jintao announced that China would lend another panda pair from Wolong to Australia.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/22/2007 page10)