Experts laud Chinese efforts to save giant panda

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has released a report that said the giant panda no longer features in the endangered list and has been classified as a vulnerable species, reported the Associated Press.

China’s State Forestry Administration said Monday that it was too early to downgrade the giant panda’s conservation status, stressing that there are still threats to the animal’s survival.

Panda bears are a lot luckier than other animals, including giant apes.

The change will lead to neglect of conservation work, and previous gains will quickly disappear, an official at the forestry administration warned. However, the worldwide group said that the predicted climate change may destroy more than 35% of the giant panda’s natural bamboo habitat in the next 80 years.

“As their status has been downgraded, conservation work could be neglected and relaxed, followed by irreversible damage to panda habitats and to the whole species”, read the SFA statement.

Still, animal groups hailed the recovery of the bamboo-gobbling, black-and-white bear that has always been a symbol of China and the global conservation movement.

The Chinese government was described by the IUCN as feeling proud of the increasing protection of the Giant Panda, and plans to continue investing in habitat protection, population monitoring, and protection patrols, and to further develop capacity of nature reserve staff.

So-called panda diplomacy, however, has not been without controversy, as the Christian Science Monitor’s Molly Jackson reported past year. The 1988 Wildlife Protection Law banned poaching and conferred the highest protected status to the animal, CNN reported.

The giant panda is considered a “national treasure” in China.

Hunting has also contributed to a 70% decline in the past 20 years, IUCN said.

But the WWF, whose logo has been a panda since 1961, celebrated the panda’s re-classification, saying it proved that aggressive investment does pay off “when science, political will and engagement of local communities come together”.

Pandas have been the beneficiaries of an intensive conservation campaign.

“They are a wonderful example of what can happen when a government is committed to conservation”, she said.