White tree frogs have such big appetites that they sometimes eat rats.
Bad news for pandas: survey finds habitat destruction latest
threat
Bad news for pandas: survey finds habitat destruction latest
threat The high mountain forest habitat of the giant
panda is being destroyed by logging, a survey released in Beijing
reports. Up to one-third of the forests have been lost in the past
decade, making the pandas' habitat only two-thirds what it was in
1987. The World Wide Fund for Nature, in collaboration with the
forestry departments of 3 Chinese provinces, is about to carry out
the first national survey of wild giant pandas for a decade. Hopes
for the pandas' survival in the wild now rest on whether the
government will decide to ban all logging of China's last natural
forests, and whether they will increase patrols to prevent
poaching. Local farmers who kill pandas for the skins already face
the death penalty but corruption among officials has disrupted
previous bans on harming pandas. If the wild population remains at
1,000 to 1,500, their survival in the wild will be assured as long
as destruction of their habitat is halted. 8 APRIL 2000
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