Risk Assessment of Canine Distemper in the Distribution Area of Giant Panda in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces, China

Abstract

Giant panda is the world-class precious endangered species, facing the canine distemper and other important infectious diseases on its wild and captive population of a serious threat. In this study, we used MaxEnt model and combined with ArcGIS analysis to predict the potential risk of canine distemper to giant panda habitat in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces, China. The results showed that 35.05% and 19.47% of the distribution areas of the giant pandas were in the high risk and medium risk of canine distemper, respectively. The canine distemper pose a great risk to the healthy survival of giant pandas in China. In future, epidemic prevention, vaccine development and application of wild animals should be enhanced so as to effectively protect the giant panda.