The wild giant panda population is fragmented into 33 isolated groups, with some having fewer than 10 animals, which limits the gene pool for reproduction. The forestry administration said, “If we downgrade their conservation status, or neglect or relax our conservation work, the populations and habitats of giant pandas could still suffer irreversible loss and our achievements would be quickly lost”.
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The statement also pointed out that pandas in some regions are still facing a survival crisis.
Here’s some great news to pad your otherwise dreary day – the Giant Panda is officially no longer considered an endangered animal.
Since the 1970s, it has been the focus of one of the most intensive, high-profile campaigns to recover an endangered species, after a census by the Chinese government found around 2,459 pandas in the world – proof of its precarious position, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Despite a 17 percent increase in giant panda populations in China between 2004 and 2014, the SFA warned that urgent issues like threatened habitats, a narrow gene pool and continued vulnerability to climate change and humans still require attention.
What’s more, as climate change progresses, roughly a third of the potential bamboo habitat available for pandas is expected to disappear. The other subspecies, the mountain gorilla, is faring slightly better.
“To see the Eastern Gorilla – one of our closest cousins – slide towards extinction is truly distressing”, said IUCN Director General Inger Andersen.
Conservation icon makes strides, but other species are dwindling..
The IUCN has monitored species for their vulnerability for the past 50 years.
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The most recent Red List also contained bad news for the Eastern gorilla, which was placed on the critically endangered list. They join the Western Gorilla, Bornean Orangutan and Sumatran Orangutan as members of that group, while the remaining two, the Chimpanzee and Bonobo, are now listed as endangered. “While there are some successes to celebrate, this new data must act as a beacon to guide the conservation of those species which continue to be under threat”.
