Human-Wildlife Conflict Rises in China’s Giant Panda National Park

The success of conservation in China’s Giant Panda National Park has brought a growing problem into sharper focus: farmers are reporting more losses from wild animals.

A new study found that friction between people and wildlife intensified significantly over the past decade. From 2015 to 2024, farmers reported damage to property and crops, as well as attacks on people and livestock. The researchers said the conflict had become the most prominent challenge facing the park’s administrators.

The park covers 22,000 square kilometers, or about 8,500 square miles, making it two and a half times larger than Yellowstone National Park in the United States. It officially opened in 2021 and stretches across Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

More than 1,300 wild giant pandas now live inside the park, representing 70 percent of the species’ total population. As conservation efforts expanded, however, losses reported by nearby farmers increased, placing the relationship between protected wildlife and local communities under growing pressure.