WWF’s 1600 papier mache pandas on display in France to help raise public awareness…

1600 PANDAS INVESTISSENT LE TROCADÉRO À PARIS

WWF Earth Hour – 1600 pandas place des Terreaux, Lyon (France)

http://www.wwf.fr/s-informer/actualites/1600-pandas-investissent-le-trocadero-a-paris

1600 pandas place des Terreaux, Lyon (France)

The pandas, installed by members of the WWF, represent each of the remaining 1,600 pandas left in the wild.

The number is 40 per cent more than were previously thought to exist but there are still serious threats to the survival of the animal.

The findings come as a result of a four-year-long study of pandas and their habitat carried out by the State Forestry Administration of China and WWF, the global conservation organisation.

The last panda survey in the 1980s found around 1,100 giant pandas in the wild.

The most recent survey found a larger panda population than previously known, and discovered pandas living in regions not thought to have the species such as in the Liuba and Ningqiang Counties.

Experts at the WWF believe that the difference is due more to better counting methods than to pandas living in a better environment.

The survey also pointed to deforestation and continued poaching as factors threatening the future of the species.

Stuart Chapman, Head of Species for WWF-UK, said: “We have been further, higher and deeper into panda habitat than ever before. Finding panda populations that were previously not known to science.”

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/3232784/Papier-mch-pandas-invade-Paris.html

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To celebrate 35th anniversary of WWF France, and to raise public awareness of Earth Hour event as well as general need to protect the environment  – 1,600 pandas were staged in a few cities in France, demonstrating pretty graphically how many of these animals are left…

Here is a Flikr photostream where you can view the exhibit in more detail:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwf-france_footage/sets/72157606413871357/

In Paris this week, the World Wildlife Fund set out 1,600 papier mache pandas (the number of pandas left on earth), calling on people to reverse the deterioration of the environment. Photo: AFP/Getty

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Below is a video about how these pandas were made.

1600 pandas à Paris
Uploaded by WWF_France