Pandas are a beautiful and endangered species of bear that can be found in certain parts of Asia.
There are only about 1800 pandas left in the wild but due to improvements in conservation, their population is stabilizing.
The giant panda used to exist across southern and eastern China, as well as northern Vietnam and Myanmar.
However, owing to increasing human populations and development, the species is now concentrated in only 20 scattered patches of bamboo forest in six mountain ranges in China’s Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces.
The majority of the wild pandas in China reside in the Minshan and Qinling mountain ranges.
Preserving habitat is critical to the panda’s survival, especially since habitat loss is the most serious hazard. China now has a network of 67 panda reserves, which safeguard more than 66% of the wild pandas and almost 54% of their current territory.
Chinese authorities and NGOs like the WWF have also built bamboo corridors to link isolated pockets of the forests, allowing pandas in separated areas to migrate to new locations, discover additional food, and meet other potential breeding partners.
Panda Range Map
Minshan Mountains
The mountains act as a natural barrier between China’s densely populated southern and eastern regions and the world’s largest wilderness, the Tibetan Plateau, which is the highest and largest in the world.
The Minshan ranges run along China’s northern Great Sichuan plain and east of the Tibetan Plateau, and they’re part of one of China’s most important watersheds.
The Qinling Mountains
The Qinling Mountains, located in Shaanxi Province, are a natural barrier between northern and southern China, keeping the south warm and protected from the harsh northern weather. The abundant rains on the southern slopes provide a rich ecosystem for plants and animals.
Other threatened species found in the mountains include the golden monkey, takin, and crested ibis.