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line Ailuropoda melanoleuca (David, 1869)

DISTRIBUTION Map

DISTRIBUTION Fossil evidence has demonstrated that in the late Pleistocene, 0.7 million years ago, the Giant Panda was widely distributed in Myanmar (Burma), northern Vietnam, and much of eastern and southern China as far north as Beijing. Its range has since contracted through climatic change, and in recent centuries, increasing human settlement. The species is now restricted to six isolated mountain ranges in the Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces along the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The remaining area of suitable panda habitat totals about 29,500 km2. 1,6,14 Because most valleys are inhabited by people, many panda populations are isolated in narrow belts of bamboo, no more than 1,000-1,200 m in width. Panda habitat is continuing to disappear as settlers push ever higher up the mountain slopes.

Range States: China


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