Panda revelation

A new book highlights one of the world's most beloved and misunderstood animals. The authors share insights with Huang Zhiling in Chengdu.

At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, home to 118 captive pandas, many visitors get a sense that China has many pandas. So, they ask, how can we say they are an endangered species?

Major advancements in breeding techniques have secured the captive panda population. However, much greater effort is needed to preserve them in the wild as they remain extremely vulnerable to human intrusion into their native habitat, according to the new book Giant Pandas: Born Survivors published by the Penguin Group (Australia) in association with Penguin (China).