The giant panda may be better off than thought, according to a new survey that doubles estimates of a key population in China.

As a charismatic endangered species, the giant panda has become a symbol of the conservation movement.

The giant panda diet relies on bamboo. (Courtesy of Naxun, Zhao)

The animals once lived in most of China and neighbouring countries, but are now confined to mountain habitats in western China.

Scientists say it's important to know how many giant pandas are in the wild and where to conserve the species.

But pandas are elusive and difficult to observe in the wild, making it hard to take an accurate census of their populations.

Now researchers have upgraded estimates for the population in China's Wanglang Nature Reserve, based on DNA sequence profiling recovered from droppings left by the animals in 2003 and 2004.
 
The lowest estimate was 66 individuals, 35 males and 31 females, Chinese and UK scientists report in Tuesday's issue of the journal Current Biology. That's double the previous estimate of 27 taken during a national survey in 1985.

Unlike in earlier surveys, Fuwen Wei of the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues used samples taken from the whole reserve.

If the difference between previous estimates and the molecular census holds true for other key giant panda reserves, there are likely more giant pandas in the wild than estimated, the study's authors said.

The Wanglang Nature Reserve estimates there are 1,000 giant pandas left in the wild.

Panda populations in the reserve have declined because of a combination of events, including habitat disturbance and a die-off of bamboo in the 1980s.

There are no signs that the population decline has resulted in serious genetic consequences, the team reported.

"It seems, therefore, that the giant panda population in Wanglang has the potential to be restored," the study's authors concluded. 

Combining reserves with strict enforcement of bans on poaching and deforestation "augurs well for giant panda conservation in the medium term, provided such measures remain in force."