Abstract: It is very difficult to study the age and population composition of the giant panda, as they live in bamboo thickets, being a sparse population. In the Wuyipeng study area in the Wolong Natural Reserve, Sichuan. We created 7 trails through panda habitat. Along these trails we could carry out number estimation and collected fresh droppings of different individuals.The sizes of the droppings and 30 undigested bamboo stem fragments in the droppings were measured. The undigested bamboo leaf fragments were also measured at random. Thus the age of each animal could be determined. On the basis of the measurement and ecological information taken, the giant panda were put into 4 age-groups i.e., cub, juvenile, adult and senile.The determinations were approved by comparison between the droppings and bamboo fragments with those of the known aged giant pandas both in wild and in captivity.The age composition of the population of giant panda in Wuyipeng study area is relatively stable. The percentages of the giant pandas of different age groups show the characteristics of longlived animals.

Key words: Giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, Excrement, Stem, Biting bamboo fragment, Age groups, Population composition

摘要： 本文对野外大熊猫粪便中的竹秆咬节及切缘与竹叶残片量度和破碎状况的研究,并以此对已知年龄个体的牙齿切片和齿冠磨损程度进行验证,发现通过粪便分析,可将野外大熊猫种群,大体划分为4个年龄组。

关键词: 大熊猫, 粪便, 竹秆, 咬节, 年龄组, 种群结构