Investigations on the Population Quantity and Distribution of the Red Panda in Tianquan County of Sichuan Province

There are about 3 000~3 400 red panda individuals in the Sichuan Province which is the most quantity of the red panda in China. The Qionglai Mountains of the Sichuan is one of the important habitats of red pandas, among which the Wenchuan County,the Baoxing County,and the Tianquanthe County are larger distributional areas. On 20 ^th, April, 2013, a 7.0-grade magnitude earthquake occurred in Lushan County in Sichuan Province, and the Tianquan County was one of the most disaster area. The ecological environment was severely damaged, and the survival of some wild animals was threatened by this earthquake. In this paper, investigations were made on the quantity and the distribution of the red panda population in the possible habitats in Tianquan County by adopting the sample line method,the sample method and the 3S technique. Meanwhile, a field survey was made in key areas (about 360 hm²). The results showed that the there were about 43~48 red pandas in the Tianquan County,and they were mainly scattered in the Sichuan Erlang Mountain Forest Park, The Labahe Nature Reserve, all forest farms and the Huoshigou operating area. There were 1 or 2 red pandas found in the key areas.