CHENGDU, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Giant pandas living in the wild may face food shortages as more bamboo plants, which comprise the bears' staple food, approach the end of their lifespan, Chinese naturalists warned.

    Yang Xuyu, deputy head of the Wild Animal Preservation Station of the Sichuan provincial forestry bureau in west China, issued the warning on Sunday during the annual meeting of the China Giant Panda Breeding Technical Committee. The meeting was held in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan.

    Yang said that the station has observed 24,000 ha. of bamboo flowering in Sichuan, where 1,206 pandas live in 40 nature reserves with a total area of 1.77 million ha., accounting for 77 percent of the total panda habitat in China.

    Bamboo blossoms have been spotted in 14 counties in Sichuan since 2005. Nine varieties of bamboo have been observed flowering. These varieties account for 30 percent of bamboo eaten by the panda, said Yang.

    "No wild panda has been found dead of starvation. But as the area of bamboo flowering spreads, we should keep close watch on the severity of the pandas' food shortages," said Yang.

    The mountainous region witnessed extensive blossoming of the arrow bamboo, the pandas' favorite variety, in 1984 and 1987, when the plants flowered, seeded and died. Hundreds of the endangered animals died of starvation.

    The mass flowering of bamboo plants poses a major threat to the wild pandas' survival.

    Yang said that in the past, pandas adapted to the natural recurrence of bamboo die-offs, which occur about every 60 years. However, in modern times, their migration paths among segmented bamboo forests have been blocked by human activities. Thus, the bamboo flowering has become a major threat to wild pandas.

    He said the forestry bureau has carried out a panda rescue drive, which involves sending preservation staff to local panda habitats to provide guidance and supervision. The bureau has also formed a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The two organizations are drafting a plan to restore many of the pandas' migration paths.

    Over 80 officials and panda experts from eight countries attended the meeting, which has been held annually since 1989. Participants shared their research on ways to preserve the panda.

    The bears eat 20 or so bamboo species. A research center for endangered animals in China's western Shaanxi Province has carried out tests aimed at helping pandas to diversify their taste in bamboo. Researchers collected 90 bamboo species that are known to be edible and fed those types to six captive pandas. The center said that the test results will be useful for panda reserves.