●The main threat to the survival of pandas is the destruction of their habitat.
●Cattle, sheep and goats graze on any emerging seedlings and prevent regeneration of the forest, and their hooves loosen the thin mountain soil.
●In the last 30 years Sichuan has lost some 30% of its forests, and more than half of the natural forest vegetation has been destroyed or disturbed so badly that it no longer provides a suitable habitat.
●Whatever the number of pandas surviving
in the wild is, it is quite clear that the giant panda will become extinct in the next century
unless more steps are taken to protect the habitat.
