Latest PANDAS Stories

By Belinda GoldsmithNEW YORK (Reuters) - Giant pandas may not be in as much danger of extinction as feared with a new British-Chinese study finding there could be twice as many living in the wild as previously thought, scientists said on Monday."This finding indicates that the species may have a significantly better chance of long-term viability than recently anticipated, and that this beautiful animal may have a brighter future," the scientists said in a statement.Until now...

By Belinda GoldsmithNEW YORK -- Giant pandas may not be in as much danger of extinction as feared with a new British-Chinese study finding there could be twice as many living in the wild as previously thought, scientists said on Monday."This finding indicates that the species may have a significantly better chance of long-term viability than recently anticipated, and that this beautiful animal may have a brighter future," the scientists said in a statement.Until now scientists...

By Andrew Stern CHICAGO (Reuters) - Strep throat infections triple a child's risk of developing compulsive behaviors or tics, an indication that the same antibodies that attack the infection may also damage brain cells, a study said on Tuesday. As many as one in four children develop some kind of tic disorder that can range from a compulsive ordering of objects to obsessive hand-washing to the uncontrolled lashing out of Tourette's syndrome sufferers. In many cases, the tic disappears after...

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Giant pandas in western China could be at risk of starvation because the bamboo plants that they eat are beginning to die off in a cycle that happens about every 60 years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday. Workers at the Baishuijiang State Nature Preserve in the northwestern province of Gansu plan to monitor the 102 pandas in the preserve for signs of hunger, according to Xinhua. Threatened pandas will be moved to areas that still have bamboo, with...

BEIJING (AFP) -- China will soon finish building its first blood bank for pandas, which will assist researchers in studying the endangered animals' blood types and chances of accepting blood transfusions. The bank at southwest China's Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre in the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan province will be completed this year, the China Daily state newspaper said. Located in the giant panda breeding lab, the bank will help researchers answer questions such as how...