Across China: Wild pandas sightings on the rise in Gansu

Growth in the wild giant panda population in northwest China's Gansu Province is leading to an unusual number of sightings of the shy creatures as they venture out of their remote rural habitat.

Helped by bans on logging and creation of nature reserves, Gansu's wild giant panda population rose almost 13 percent to 132 between the beginning of the 21st century and 2014, when the latest official census was conducted.

They mainly live in southeastern Gansu, where locals have reported seeing one or more pandas five times in 2015, often near their homes. Many more such sightings are likely to have gone unreported.

On Nov. 27, a resident of Zhouqu in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture came across a seemingly distressed baby panda in Chagangliang Nature Reserve, one of the province's seven reserves for giant pandas.

He recorded a video of the cub and passed it to the local forestry department, which examined the site and concluded that the baby panda was foraging for food with its mother when it was found. The mother was probably hiding nearby, said department staff.

The census put the number of wild giant pandas in Gannan at 19, compared to nine a decade ago.

Li Xiaohong, a panda expert at Tianshui Normal University in Gansu, said they may be coming closer to human settlements in search of food. Bamboo can be scarce in the mountains during colder months.

Another major factor is increasing forest coverage -- the amount of land considered natural panda habitat increased by a small but significant 3.3 percent in the period covered by the official census.

Over the past decade, the provincial government has banned logging in panda habitats and increased the number of nature reserves from two to seven.

Illegal felling of trees used to be rampant in Haoshuiping Village. Nowadays, while many villagers have left to look for employment in cities, those that remain are more likely to earn a living from tea plantations and acting as forest rangers.

Those who gave up logging and assisted with forestry protection have been given 2,000 yuan (308.8 U.S. dollars) a year by the government.

"After we encouraged villagers to plant tea in recent years through providing subsidies and inviting technical experts to teach them, the annual per capita income of our village reached more than 6,000 yuan in 2014, compared to 1,900 yuan a decade ago," said village head Gao Qingming.

As wild pandas have expanded their range, it is inevitable that they may threaten locals and their property.

Gansu has provided compensation for personal injury and property damage caused by wild animals since 2010.

A Wenxian County resident hurt by a wild panda intruding into his village in 2014 got 400,000 yuan from the local government this year.

Since the fragmentation of panda habitats also threatens pandas' survival, conservations have suggested linking isolated nature reserves. Pandas would be able to move and mate more freely.

Giant pandas live mainly in the mountains of southwest China's Sichuan Province as well as Gansu and Shaanxi Province in the northwest. They are threatened by habitat loss and a low birthrate.

As of the end of 2013, there were 1,864 giant pandas living in the wild in China, an increase of 268, or 16.8 percent, from 2003, according to the State Forestry Administration. Endi