China will implant high-tech identification tags in all captive pandas in an effort to better monitor the population and prevent inbreeding, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Information about pedigree, age and other basic data will be permanently incorporated into the giant pandas by ways of molecular labeling or hypodermic implantation of sensory chips," Xinhua quoted a State Forestry Administration official as saying.

The tagging would begin this year and would also help keep track of the animals once they were sent back into the wild, said the official, who was not identified.

No further details were given.

At the end of 2004, China had 163 pandas in captivity and an estimated 1,590 in the wild, Xinhua said.

Editor: Catherine