When the distance between two trace points falls within the potential activity range of a single panda, further identification using bite mark differentiation can be applied to enhance the accuracy of the census.

"Ninety-nine percent of a giant panda's diet consists of bamboo, which they cannot fully digest. The undigested bamboo stem fragments found in their feces are called bite marks. Due to variations in individual digestive capabilities, there can be significant differences in the average number of bite marks in feces," Xu said.

"By comparing characteristics like bite mark lengths, we can determine if the feces in an area were left by the same panda," he added.

In the NYT article, some foreign experts proposed using infrared cameras and DNA analysis to assess the panda population.