August 18, 2009
Giant Pandas Headed for Extinction?
Man Encroaching More and More on Their Natural Habitat in China
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Play CBS Video Video Giant Pandas on the Brink Giant Panda's in the wild are suffering from a shrinking environment due to road construction in China. Celia Hatton reports.
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Conservationists fear giant pandas could face extinction as natural habitats are encroached upon by human development. (CBS)
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Fan Zhiyong, Species Programme Director for the World Wide Fund for Nature in Beijing voiced concerns in a report by the Xinhua News Agency, saying basic housing projects have "a fundamental conflict with conservation."
Zhiyong, spokesperson for the World Wide Fund for Nature, said heavy traffic has stopped pandas from crossing over highways, inhibiting the pandas' ability to meet and interact with each other, as they normally do.
Roads, power lines and water projects are also cutting off pandas from nearby areas where they might find a suitable mate.
Although the WWF was not against economic development, Zhiyong said considerations for pandas should be made when developing housing ideas.
"We shouldn't say 'don't let development happen.' We are just asking if, in the process of developing these areas should we, can we, stop and think that as a Chinese national treasure and a globally protected species, can we plan with them in mind? Can our development plans include them in the considerations?"
CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton reported on "The Early Show" Tuesday, researchers have increased the numbers of baby pandas born in captivity through artificial insemination.
But, in the wild, Hatton pointed out, the Chinese bears are notoriously unsuccessful at reproducing on their own. And now, fewer than 1,600 pandas are roaming China's bamboo corridors that are now less than a mile wide.
Hatton said Chinese ongoing construction means the wild panda population could soon shrink to nothing.
Zhiyong said, "If these animals are all raised by people they are no longer a wild species...if at some point in the future the only way to see the survival of the panda as a species is to rely on the artificial insemination of frozen sperm, we will know the extinction of this species is not far off."
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Add a Comment
- bonjour
le panda quel bel animal, ce serait bien dommage qu'il disparaisse, l'homme reste le premier, l'unique responsable du déclin quant a l'environnement,
sensibiliser encore et encore.....j'espére que tout sera mis en oeuvre pour éviter la disparition a monsieur "panda"..au revoir. - Reply to this comment
- Awwwwwww....cute panda........comere cutie pie panda bear.......................that's a good .....OW!
Shoot that SOB! - Reply to this comment
- People too will someday see the last of their species fade away - Just the "Grand Scheme of Things". Unfortunately some will not go fast enough.
- Reply to this comment
- Any animal with such a highly specialized diet (99% bamboo) is pretty much destined for extinction. Although they're cute, it's a small loss in the grand scheme of things.
- Reply to this comment
- Giant Pandas Headed for Extinction
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Isn't that just south of Bermuda? - Reply to this comment
- Sadly, not only the beautiful panda bears are heading for extinction, also many other animals and the human species are going down the pipes, and fast. Ninety percent of the lions have been exterminated in Africa in the last two decades. Sharks, whales, and countless other animals are being killed at a furious pace. It seems that in a few generations, people will have the opportunity to see animals only in the Internet and in museums.
- Reply to this comment
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