Four out of five species of great apes are now listed as critically endangered as populations have declined in recent years largely due to hunting, according to a new update from an global conservation group.
Advertisement
The Grauer’s gorilla population has declined by 77 percent and now features on the “critically endangered species” list.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature said in a report released Sunday that the panda is now classified as a “vulnerable” instead of “endangered” species, reflecting its growing numbers in the wild in southern China.
The giant panda has experienced an increase in habitat in China, which is credited for a 17 percent increase in the population from 2004 to 2014.
The conservation group said that to protect this iconic species as it expands its range and numbers, effective forest protection measures must be continued, and emerging threats be quickly addressed. So while their populations are increasing in the wild, there is still a lot of work to be done to keep the forward momentum going.
Overall, the IUCN Red List, which gets upgrade after every four years, is now includes more than 8,000 species of which a staggering 24,000 are critically endangered. “Therefore, we’re not being alarmist by continuing to emphasize the panda species’ endangered status”.
Despite the good news, there are still only 1,864 Giant Pandas left in the world.
China’s top forestry authority claimed Monday that the giant panda is still “endangered”, despite an worldwide assessment’s recent decision to downgrade the panda’s conservation status to “vulnerable”, news site thepaper.cn reported. This is due to a rise in available habitat throughout China.
However, the IUCN study also shows that the eastern gorilla is now just one step away from extinction. But as giant pandas’ diet only consists of bamboo, the IUCN says the next 80 years or so see a great threat from climate change, which could reduce bamboo forests by roughly a third. That combined with their poor breeding habits, particularly in captivity, makes protecting this species particularly challenging – and leaves them vulnerable to climate change.
Advertisement
The Eastern Gorilla is now critically endangered, joining three other great apes on the list – the Western Gorilla, Bornean Orangutan and Sumatran Orangutan.
