China’s Shaanxi Province will be home to a planned 27,000-square kilometer national panda park, with areas set aside for public viewing, but most restricted for habitat preservation and species restoration.
Of China’s estimated 1800+ wild pandas, about 300 live in the area that will form the park. China’s pandas are centered mostly in Shaanxi, Sichuan and Gansu provinces. There are 33 groups of pandas in the wild.
The three provinces are drawing action plans for the park, and for other panda-friendly measures. Sichuan is in the southwest; the others in the northwest. In addition to the wild population, China has about 375 pandas in captivity.
