 The Panda National Preserve is a very special place located in Flagstaff, Arizona, dedicated to the preservation of the very distinguished Panda which could easily become extinct if not actively protected. Our delightful Pandas have amused and enchanted people from all over the world. Our visitors have had a love affair with these giant pandas ever since two of the black-and-white bears joined us in 1997. After years of red tape and tons of application paperwork, the Panda Preservation Foundation of China agreed on a 16-year research loan of two giant pandas, Su Ling and Ho Sung. A brand-new exhibit area was built for these bears, which has since been expanded and renovated. Although we have four giant pandas today, our facility can comfortably and safely accomodate up to eight adults.
Today the giant pandas enjoy deluxe accommodations with larger exhibit areas and extra vegetation and climbing structures. You'll enjoy the newer exhibit area too, with its winding, elevated viewing paths that give great panda-watching opportunities into the two main enclosures.
Next to the public panda viewing area is the building that houses the Giant Panda Team, made up of the pandas' keepers and researchers who observe and study giant panda behavior in an effort to learn all we can about these endangered bears. Be sure to stroll through the Giant Panda Discovery Center, located nearby. It includes a climb-in panda den, interactive exhibits, and even a chance to find out what pandas sound and smell like!
In the wild, giant pandas only live in a few mountain ranges in central and western China, mainly in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces.
 Why are they becoming more endangered? Giant pandas are an endangered species and their numbers are dwindling very quickly as their habitat is destroyed. There are roughly 1,600 pandas living in the wild (in China). There are about 120 living in zoos and breeding centers around the world. This species is extremely vulnerable to extinction because of humans.
Because of habitat destruction, the pandas now live in a series of broken ranges. This has created six isolated populations that do not interbreed. The natural habitat of the giant panda is cool, wet, cloudy mountain forest land where bamboo grows. Giant pandas are found in mixed deciduous/evergreen temperate forests, between 3,000 and 10,500 feet (900-3,200 m) in altitude (below the timberline). Pandas used to also live at lower altitudes, but farming and land development have pushed the pandas high into the mountains.
Another contributing factor is their very slow reproductive rate which affects their declining numbers. Male and female giant pandas mate in the spring, attracting each other with calls and odors. Females give birth between 95 and 160 days after mating. They have their cubs in dens that they dig in the ground. One or two cubs are born, but only one usually survives.
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