Complex, reliable methods track wild panda population
China's successful giant panda conservation efforts have seen the extinction risk of the species downgraded from endangered to vulnerable in 2016, with the population of giant pandas in the wild growing steadily from around 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 as of last year.
Against that background, giant panda lovers around the world have cheered the growing tribe of China's national treasure.
However, an article in The New York Times earlier this month voiced some concerns. Citing comments made by experts in 2006 and 2010, it said the methods used by China to survey the wild panda population were "not ideal" and that "China keeps its methodology a secret".