The online voting for the annual Giant Panda Global Awards (previously know as the Giant Panda Zoo Awards) has been opened.

The Giant Panda Global Awards are organized by www.GiantPandaGlobal.com, a website about the giant pandas around the world, to promote the important panda conservation work in China and abroad.

Panda fans from around the world are invited to vote for their favorite pandas, people and institutions until February 3, 2016.

258.490 votes were registered during the previous edition. The highest amount of voters came from China, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands, Austria, India, Italy and Brazil.

The launch of the fourth edition of the Giant Panda Awards follows hours after the rebrand of one of the world’s most famous panda conservation education websites, www.GiantPandaZoo.com into www.GiantPandaGlobal.com.

All features from the previous website were preserved and much interesting information about the giant panda, it’s natural habitat, the protected areas where they live in the wild, their neighbors, the reintroduction program, the breeding centers, the zoos and animal parks around the world with giant pandas,  have been and will be added.

There are only 1.864 giant pandas left in the wild. The captive population today exists of 425 individuals. The work of the Chinese panda experts on ex-situ and in-situ panda conservation is a sign that there is hope for this endangered species and for many others. The giant panda is a real ambassador for wildlife and many other species benefit from the efforts that are made in the panda conservation field.

The State Forestry Administration of the People’s Republic of China (SFA) has made enormous efforts for the giant panda protection work. The international collaboration between CAZG (Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens), CWCA (China Wildlife Conservation Association) and their national and foreign partners has resulted in many scientific breakthroughs over the past years.

The Giant Panda Global Awards were created to promote panda conservation, education and research activities. It is the time of the year to reward organisations and individuals who are making a difference in panda conservation.

The Online Voting on www.GiantPandaGlobal.com will stay open until February 3, 2016.

Temporary results (mid-terms) will be a released on wednesday January 20, 2016 and the Gold, Silver & Bronze Winners will be announced just before Spring Festival.

The location of the Award Ceremony will be announced on wednesday January 27, 2016.