Poaching giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) for their skins is a serious threat to the persistence of wild giant panda populations in China. An individual-based, age-structured stochastic simulation model was constructed to give a quantitative analysis of the effects of poaching. The model takes a total wild population of 1216 individuals divided among 16 ‘patches’. The model treats individual populations as being completely independent, with no dispersal, and density-dependence only enters into the model through local carrying capacity of patches. The model simulates three types of poaching: deterministic (constant) poaching, stochastic poaching with normal distribution and stochastic poaching with observed distribution. Results showed that, with a given initial population, poaching adult females produces lower average population size and higher average percentage extinction than poaching adult males or young. At the same poaching intensity, all three poaching simulations predicted a similar probability of extinction. However, they predicted different average population size and percentage extinction because of differences in the parameters in the three models. These results should therefore be treated with caution when constant poaching simulation or stochastic poaching with assumed normal distribution is used as a simplification of realistic poaching. Nevertheless, the results imply that giant pandas are threatened by any reduction in natural populations. Effective measures are essential to reduce poaching. It is also important to limit the capturing of wild animals for zoos or breeding facilities as this also has a serious effect on the total population.
Pandas are the world's most famous endangered animal. Their survival is threatened mostly by loss of habitat, and this is related to economic and population growth in China. Poaching can also be a problem. One reason the panda is so vulnerable is that bamboo dies off periodically after blooming and pandas so dislike people that they would starve rather than cross an inhabited area to find a fresh source of food. The slow reproductive rate of pandas makes reviving their population difficult. Another problem is inbreeding. Inbreeding can make it difficult for pandas to reproduce and makes them vulnerable to disease. Genetic studies though have shown that inbreeding is not a problem. Existing pandas are'doing pretty well. One area studied by Chinese naturalist Pan Wenshi in the Qin Ling mountains in Shaanxi with a population of 80 pandas recorded 11 birth and 4 deaths in a seven month period. Also encouraging are the results of recent censuses of panda populations. (See Panda Numbers). There are just over 1,800 pandas left in the wild. |
poaching of the giant panda |