The next stage of giant panda cooperation between China and the United States should focus on the animals' habitat rather than their breeding, the head of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said.
Shawn Dixon, the alliance's president and CEO, spoke to China Daily on the sidelines of the Global Panda Partners 2026 conference in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The three-day event ended on Wednesday and drew delegates from more than 30 countries and regions.
"Our first 30 years centered on understanding their natural behaviors, reproductive process and what they need to thrive," said Dixon.
The main challenge now, he said, is ensuring pandas have denning sites, abundant bamboo and a healthy ecosystem for future generations. He said the next phase of cooperation should study bamboo growth, the old-growth trees pandas use for dens and the effect of human activity on their habitat.
San Diego's long-term research partnership with China began in 1996, when giant pandas Bai Yun and Shi Shi arrived under a 12-year agreement that was later extended to more than 23 years. The zoo says it was the first in the US to enter such an agreement. Working with Chinese partners, the zoo says it achieved the first successful artificial insemination of a giant panda in the US and developed a milk formula that improved survival rates for nursery-reared cubs.
The zoo's panda ridge is currently home to two giant pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, who arrived in 2024. The habitat is inspired by the lush landscapes of the pandas' native habitats in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.
"We try our best to mimic their original habitat," Dixon said. "I would say they wouldn't know the difference. They feel like they're in the wild."
The zoo grows its own bamboo, a practice that began when the first pandas arrived. The alliance now maintains 130 species of bamboo across 2.4 hectares at the zoo and its safari park, according to Dixon.
The species' prospects have improved over the same period. The wild giant panda population has increased from about 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900, according to data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. The captive population stands at 830, according to the conference. In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature downgraded the species from endangered to vulnerable.
Over the past three decades, China has established panda conservation partnerships with 26 institutions across 20 countries, according to Li Yunqing, deputy head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. He said 69 pandas have lived abroad under these partnerships, producing 45 litters and 73 cubs.
Dixon's connection with pandas began in 1996, when he watched Bai Yun and Shi Shi arrive in San Diego on television. "Seeing the giant panda, I felt a connection between cultures unlike anything else I've experienced," he said.
Contact the writers at pengchao@chinadaily.com.cn
