China is the only place in the world where pandas still live in the wild.The panda survey counted the total number of pandas living in the Chinese country- side at almost 1，600——nearly 50 percent more than the 1，000 to 1，100 pandas found in the last survey， in the late 1980s. Although the news is encouraging， scientists are quick to point out that pandas，which have become the universal symbol of endangered （瀕于滅絕的) species， are still threatened with extinction （滅絕） and need protection.

With pandas and many other species， survival depends on staying hidden from people and predators（捕食者） so counting them can be tricky1.More important than the number of pandas is how to protect them and the places they live.

Scientists conducted the panda survey (調(diào)查)， sponsored by World Wildlife Fund (世界自然基金會(huì))and the Chinese government， by combining the best of 21st century technology with old-fashioned (老式的，過時(shí)的)low-tech tracking skills.Counting pandas is a slow，boring process. Scientists had to trek2 through the forest and up mountains， using their powers of observation to note a bit of panda fur left on the bark(樹皮) of a tree， a panda paw(爪子) print in the mud， or... panda poop(糞便)! Panda locations were en- tered into global positioning system (全球定位系統(tǒng)) instruments to create maps of habitat that should be protected.

Of all the clues left by the pandas，researchers relied most heavily on the animals' droppings. Pandas eat up to(數(shù)量到……程度) 80 pounds of bamboo a day， and because bamboo is difficult to digest， it retains3 the chew patterns4 of individual pandas even after digestion. Chinese researchers have determined that individual pandashavedifferent average bite sizes， so by measuring the average bite size of the bamboo pieces in the droppings collected，survey teams were able to determine the number of pandas that produced the droppings left behind in each area.

Here's how scientists manage to count pandas:

Step One: Set up camp in China in the mountains near Tibet (西藏). Assign each panda tracker (追蹤者)a region of about two square kilometers each day.

Step Two:Look for signs of pandas: mashed(糊狀的) bamboo， claw(爪) marks on trees， hollowed-out(挖空的) tree trunks used to raise panda babies. Most often， you'll see softball-size panda droppings.This is dangerous work;one tracker died after slipping off(滑落) a cliff.

Step Three:Take dung (糞)back to camp each night and examine it，often by flickering5 firelight，looking for bamboo.By measuring the bite marks，which are surprisingly similar to one another， trackers can identify specific pandas.

Step Four: Using a computerized mapping(繪圖) program， identify the locations of specific pandas， keeping in mind that most pandas don't roam6 farther than a four-mile radius (半徑范圍). From those calculations， determine how many pandas are hiding， maybe even in the nearest bamboo forest.

注釋：

1．tricky a.需慎重對(duì)待的，難對(duì)付的

2．trekvi.(緩慢或艱難地)旅行，長(zhǎng)途跋涉

3．retain vt.保留，保持

4．pattern n. 形狀，形式，風(fēng)格

5．flickering a.搖曳的，閃爍的

6．roam vi.(漫無目標(biāo)地)隨便走，漫步

中國(guó)是世界上惟一還有野生大熊貓生存的地方。調(diào)杏發(fā)現(xiàn)中國(guó)野生大熊貓的總數(shù)量將近1600只——比上次在20世紀(jì)80年代末調(diào)查的1000~1100只幾乎多了50%，雖然這個(gè)消息令人鼓舞，但是利學(xué)家隨即指出，早已成為瀕危物種普遍象征的大熊貓仍然面臨滅絕的威脅，仍然需要保護(hù)。

大熊貓和其他許多野生動(dòng)物一樣，要躲避人類和食肉動(dòng)物以求生存，因此要調(diào)查其數(shù)量還是很棘手的。比調(diào)查大熊貓數(shù)量更重要的問題是如何保護(hù)它們及其生存的環(huán)境。

在世界自然基金會(huì)和中國(guó)政府的資助下，科學(xué)家們把 21世紀(jì)最先進(jìn)的科學(xué)技術(shù)和傳統(tǒng)的技術(shù)含量低的追蹤方法結(jié)合起來調(diào)查大熊貓的數(shù)量。調(diào)查大熊貓數(shù)量的進(jìn)程緩慢而枯燥，科學(xué)家們需要翻山越嶺、穿越森林，運(yùn)用他們的觀察力去留意每處樹皮上殘留的大熊貓?bào)w毛，泥土上的大熊貓爪印，或者是……熊貓糞便!大熊貓出沒之處已輸入到全球定位系統(tǒng)裝置里以繪出需要保護(hù)的大熊貓棲居場(chǎng)所地圖。

在大熊貓留下的所有線索當(dāng)中，研究人員最主要依靠的是它們的糞便。一只大熊貓每天要吃掉重達(dá)80磅的竹子，由于竹子難以消化，因此，即使經(jīng)過了消化以后，竹子上仍然保留著每只大熊貓的咀嚼特征。中國(guó)的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)不同的大熊貓吃竹子時(shí)咬痕的平均大小是不一樣的，因此，通過對(duì)從收集來的糞便中竹子碎片咬痕的平均大小進(jìn)行測(cè)量，大熊貓調(diào)查小組就可以確定每個(gè)區(qū)域里留下了糞便的大熊貓數(shù)量。

以下是科學(xué)家如何調(diào)查大熊貓的數(shù)量：

第一步：在中國(guó)西藏附近的山區(qū)建立營(yíng)地。每天給每位大熊貓追蹤者指定一塊大約2平方公里的調(diào)查區(qū)域。

第二步： 尋找大熊貓的蹤跡：包括嚼成糊狀的竹子、樹上的熊貓爪痕、曾用于喂養(yǎng)熊貓寶寶的空樹干。大多數(shù)時(shí)間，你最常看到的是壘球大小的熊貓糞便。這項(xiàng)工作挺危險(xiǎn)；一位追蹤者就曾在滑落懸崖后不幸身亡。

第三步：每天晚上將糞便拿回營(yíng)地，經(jīng)常在搖曳的燈光下檢查，以尋找其中的竹子。通過測(cè)量那些彼此驚人地相像的咬痕，追蹤者可以識(shí)別出特定的大熊貓。

第四步：用一個(gè)計(jì)算機(jī)繪圖程序，標(biāo)出特定大熊貓的位置。記住，大多數(shù)大熊貓的活動(dòng)范圍不超過4英里的半徑。經(jīng)過那些估算就能確定最近的竹林中隱藏著多少只大熊貓。