Maximizing the Environmental enrichment of Panda's in Captive Breeding
Introduction
Human beings play a major role in shaping biodiversity as well as the landscape. As the human population increase, the demand for natural resources continues to increase, leaving a small percentage of the earth that is not affected by human activities. These activities have gone further to affect even the protected areas as well as natural reserves in one way or another. Although there is much effort to protect the environment and conserve biodiversity, there is still conflict between wildlife conservation and social economic development. Continuous human activities have posed a threat to wildlife in particular, driving certain animals close to extinction. One species of animals that have been affected is the giant panda. Conservation of captive populations plays a crucial role in the survival of Panda population. Giant panda has been declining for thousands of years due to hunting by humans and climatic changes.
Panda Gao Gao in San Diego Zoo, USA
English: Bai Yun, a female Giant Panda at San Dieg...
Hua Mei, the baby giant panda born at the San Dieg...Its populations originally extended throughout most of southern and eastern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam. By 1900, it occurred only in the Qinling Mountains and along the edge of the Tibetan plateau. Soon after 1900, the expansion of agriculture upstream along principal river valleys separated this distribution into separate regions in six mountain ranges. Small, isolated populations also face a greater risk of inbreeding, which can lead to reduced resistance to disease, less adaptability to environmental changes and reproductive problems. Pandas stand a much greater chance of extinction if they remain isolated from each other. The greatest threat to panda survival is the loss and degradation of its habitat. The giant panda's range is steadily shrinking as logging operations harvest vegetation for fuel. In the first ever mass survey that took place in 1974, the researchers estimated that there were around 1,000 -1,100 giant...