New highways threaten giant pandas

There is a new threat to the survival of the giant panda. The rapid construction of China’s national highway network is cutting the pandas’ natural habitat into many small pieces. This is destroying the bamboo forests that the loveable animals need to survive. It is also adding a new danger of being run over by cars and trucks. The China Daily newspaper reported the biggest threat to the animal is in the northwest province of Gansu. There are now fewer than fifty pandas there. Conservationists are battling to preserve them. They are building special panda crossings and tunnels to help them survive.

The biggest problem is the dividing of the pandas’ habitat into smaller areas. The growth of the highways now makes breeding even more difficult. The China Daily reports that: “According to basic principles of genetics and the pandas’ reproduction habits, a group of less than 50 giant pandas are predicted to become extinct at some point as a result of a weakening reproductive ability caused by inbreeding.” There are only two days of the year when the female panda is fertile. This problem is made worse because of the males’ lack of interest in sex and the females’ being too picky in choosing her Mr. Right.

Should pandas be threatened by road building?