The population of Chinese wild giant panda has increased from 1,100 between 1985 and 1988 to 1,596 at present, the State Forestry Bureau officials revealed on August 14 in Chengdu.

Zhao Xuemin, deputy director of State Forestry Bureau said the investigation organized by the Forestry Department suggests great progress in pandas' protection since implementing "the project of the giant panda of China and their habitat "in early 1990s. And the number 1,596 does not include the ones under the age of one and a half.

In addition, the population of the human-bred giant pandas also grows steadily. Up to the end of 2004, China had reared 163 giant pandas in captivity, among them over 70 were artificially bred, basically bringing dependence on wild giant panda to maintain the population of the pandas bred in captivity to an end.

By People's Daily Online