Captive-bred panda found dead in Chinese forest

The first panda bred in captivity and released into the wild has died after falling from a high place— possibly after being chased by wild pandas, China said Thursday.

Xiang Xiang's carcass was found on Feb. 19 in the forests of Sichuan province, said the state Xinhua News Agency. The 80-kilogram, five-year-old panda survived for less than a year in the wild.

"Xiang Xiang died of serious internal injuries in the left side of his chest and stomach by falling from a high place," Heng Yi, an official from the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in Sichuan, told the Associated Press.

"The scratches and other minor injuries caused by other wild pandas were found on his body. So Xiang Xiang may have fallen from trees when being chased by those pandas."

The death wasn't made public until an investigation took place, said Heng.

Xiang Xiang was released into the wild in April 2006 after being trained for three years on how to build a den, forage for food, mark his territory and defend it. Scientists used data from a GPS collar to track his movements.

Heng said the panda's death doesn't mean the project failed. "The lessons we have learned from what happened to Xiang Xiang will help us adapt and improve the project," he said.

However, the director of the species conservation program at the World Wildlife Fund said such programs are expensive and rarely successful.

"It's so much cheaper and easier to invest into protection of wild habitats," said Sybille Klenzendorf.

Loss of habitat, poaching and a low reproductive rate limit the survival of the giant panda. There are an estimated 1,600 wild pandas left in the mountain forests of central China, while more than 180 live in captivity.