Chinese experts believe China's latest survey on giant pandas is very "close to the fact" though some scientists cast their doubt over the endangered species' actual number.

The State Forestry Administration (SFA) has announced that China has at least 1,590 giant pandas living in the wild, a sharp rise from 1,110 reported in a general survey conducted in 1988.

"The latest figures of giant pandas from the third census are much closer to the actual wild giant panda population, given improved and more complex survey methods," said Yu Jianqiu, a giant panda expert who is also deputy director of the Chengdu Giant Panda Procreation Search Base, Sichuan Province. Sichuan is home to most of China's giant pandas living in the wild.

"Researchers combined seven to eight kinds of surveying methods, including route investigation, excrement analysis and satellite positioning," Yu said. "Many of the methods were not used in the previous two surveys in the 1970s and 1980s.

The SFA invited 14 giant panda researchers and experts to participate in the third mass survey on giant pandas, who took nearly five years to submit their latest report to the administration.

In response to the suspicion toward the survey's reliability and accuracy by some scientists, Li Guanghan, one of the 14 experts, said the figures were "relatively scientific and precise".

"Marginal error is inevitable in any scientific survey," Li said, "but there isn't too big a discrepancy."

As the most endangered species in the world, pandas prefer living alone in high mountains and deep valleys, posing great difficulty for the study of the rare species.

This is the first time for the Chinese government to announce its panda population over the past 15 years, and the data came from an inventory of the endangered species carried out in its major habitats, including the western provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.

Chinese forestry officials attributed the population increase of giant pandas to effective habitat protection and commitments to sustainable development practices, saying China's efforts in protecting its mass natural forest, afforestation and returning arable lands to forest help to create a much better environment for the rare species.

However, some officials and experts urged caution when protecting the giant pandas from extinction, given the population's genetic features and the changing environment.

"The rare species in the wild are still harassed by human activities while having to battle their sparse habitats for mating and reproduction," Zhuo Rongsheng, director of wildlife protection department under the SFA.

"We can't just lower our guard," Zhuo said. "We still have a long way to go to protect the giant pandas from extinction."

Zhuo wouldn't say how many had to be found before China would deem them out of danger of extinction.

(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2004)