BEIJING - China's first artificially raised giant panda will soon be released into the wild after 15 years of captive breeding, state press reported.

An An, a male panda, eats bamboo at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre in Sichuan, southwest China. [AFP]

Xiang Xiang, a four-year-old male raised at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, will be the first to be released out of more than 180 captive-bred pandas worldwide, Xinhua news agency said.

Xiang Xiang will be released at the height of the season for bamboo shoots, making it easier for him to find food, center director Zhang Hemin said.

He added that the panda will be fitted with a global positioning device so his movements can be tracked by satellite.

Xiang Xiang, which means auspicious, has been undergoing preparations for two years and already knows how to forage for food, build a den and mark his territory, the report said.

He has also developed defensive skills similar to wild pandas such as howling and biting.

Captive-bred pandas have lost much of their ability to live in the wild, scientists say, with only 24 percent of artificially raised females able to give birth.

This poses serious challenges to the survival of the species and has led scientist to seek new ways to reintroduce pandas into their natural habitats.

China started a 12.5 million dollar giant panda training project in 2003 to train pandas how to live in the wild before releasing them, Xinhua said.

Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered species. Over 180 pandas live in captivity around the world, and an estimated 1,590 in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan, according to Chinese studies.