Does harvesting wild bamboo create shortages for giant pandas?
The giant pandas’ fodder comes from a few bamboo species in the genus Fargesia only, i.e, Fargesia canaliculata, Fargesia denudata, Fargesia dracocephala, Fargesia emaculata, and Fargesia ferax which have not been harvested for commercial bamboo products so far. Almost all commercial bamboo material has been harvested from the forests and plantations far from the giant pandas’ habitatr. Moreover, the above species are never used for commercial bamboo products because are small-sized (diameter less than 3 cm) and grow as forests’ understory in remote areas. Naturally and traditionally, those bamboos are not accessible and usable for local people. The bamboo shortage for pandas in the 1980s was caused by flowering and subsequent death of Fargesia bamboo forests during the same period. However, bamboo is very sufficient for them presently. Almost all bamboo shoot and culm products consumed in China and exported are from cultivated plantations and not from natural forests. All bamboo produ
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- Does harvesting wild bamboo create shortages for giant pandas?
