Giant Pandas: Born Survivors

A Chinese national treasure and a conservation icon the world over, the giant pandas is arguably the most misunderstood animal on the planet. At once threatened by human encroachment and safeguarded by human ingenuity, these diffident creatures experience the best and worst of mankind.

They represent many things to many people: a living toy, an evolutionary cul-de-sac, a political pawn, to name just a few, but above all as the poster animal of the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), the panda represents the ongoing battle to save the world's threatened species, the habitats they rely on, and the controversies that rage over their survival.