SAN DIEGO -- Panda keepers and researchers met at the San Diego Zoo Thursday to stress the importance of information-sharing between countries so the species can be spared from extinction.

PANDA INFO San Diego Zoo's Panda Cam Panda FAQ HUA MEI & MOM Watch Hua Mei With Her Mom, Bai Yun Photos Of Hua Mei's First Days

Fernando Gual-Sill, general director of zoo parks in Mexico City, gave the "State of the Panda" address.

"There are approximately 140 giant pandas in zoological facilities around the world, and it's vitally important that we all work together, share ideas, knowledge, personnel and resources," said Don Lindburg of the San Diego Zoo.

"We all have to work together as a team to learn everything we can about pandas so that we can help boost their numbers."

Lindburg cited the milk replacement formula developed by San Diego Zoo nutritionist Mark Edwards and shared with the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in China.

Since the Wolong facility started using the milk, the survival rate of orphaned cubs being raised in the nursery has increased 90 percent, according to the zoo.

In addition to the three pandas living at the San Diego Zoo, pairs are on display at Zoo Atlanta and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City's Chapultepec Zoo has three. Japan, Germany and China also have pandas in zoo settings.

However, San Diego Zoo pandas Hua Mei and Shi Shi are scheduled to return to China later this year, according to 10News.

Giant pandas are critically endangered, with an estimated 1,000 left in the wild.