Question

It is reported that the wild panda population has increased by 17% over the last 13 years. There are now 1864 pandas living in the wild. To the nearest whole number, how many pandas were there 13 years ago?

Answer 1

To find the original panda population 13 years ago, divide the current population of 1864 by 1.17 (the 1 representing the whole and 0.17 representing the 17% increase), resulting in approximately 1593 pandas when rounded to the nearest whole number.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks us to calculate the original population size of wild pandas given the current population and the percentage increase over the last 13 years. If there are now 1864 wild pandas, and this number represents a 17% increase, we can work backward to find the original number of pandas. To do this, we take the current number of pandas and divide it by 1 plus the growth rate (expressed as a decimal).

So, the calculation would be: Original population = Current population / (1 + Growth rate).

Substituting the given numbers: Original population = 1864 / (1 + 0.17), which equals 1864 / 1.17. When we calculate that, we get approximately 1593.16, and rounding to the nearest whole number gives us 1593 pandas.