Giant Pandas No Longer Endangered: Numbers Grow After Major Conservation Effort
The giant panda has been taken off the endangered list after a major conservation effort by the Chinese government.
The animal, one of the best-known symbols of China, is now classified as “vulnerable” instead of “endangered”, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
It said the wild panda population jumped to 1,864 in 2014 from 1,596 in 2004, the result of work by Chinese agencies to enforce poaching bans and expand forest reserves.
Glyn Davies, executive director of global programmes at conservation charity WWF-UK, said: “This is a cause for celebration and proves that a united approach can bring a substantial difference to threatened species, even at a time of great economic growth in China.”
Endangered: The eastern gorilla is sliding towards extinction (PA)
However, the IUCN report warned that although better forest protection has helped increase panda numbers, climate change is predicted to eliminate more than 35% of its natural bamboo habitat in the next 80 years, potentially leading to another decline.
Despite the good news for giant pandas, eastern gorillas are sliding towards extinction and the primates have now been classed as critically endangered.
The gorillas found in East Africa have seen their fortunes worsen as a result of illegal hunting, with their status on the latest global Red List of Threatened Species changed from endangered to critically endangered - just one step away from extinction.
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