An international group has taken the panda off the
endangered list thanks to conservation efforts. The panda is
classified as “vulnerable” instead of “endangered”, reflecting its rising
numbers in southern china. It’s said the population jumped from 1,596 in 2004
to 1,864 in 2014.
However, although
better forest protection has helped increase panda numbers, climate change is
predicted to eliminate more than 35 percent of its natural bamboo habitat in
the next 80 years, potentially leading to another decline.
Still, animal groups
hailed the recovery of the Giant Panda that has been a symbol of china and the
global conservation movement. The panda population decreased in the 1980's due
to poaching and deforestation until china threw its full weight into preserving
the animal.
The chines government
has worked to save wild pandas. Giant panda populations in the wild have risen
by 17 percent in the decade up to 2014. China now has 67 panda reserves, which
are similar to U.S. national parks.
For over fifty years,
the giant panda has been the globes most beloved conservation icon as well as
the symbol of WWF. Knowing that the panda is now a step further from extinction
is an exciting movement for everyone committed to conserving the world’s
wildlife and their habitats.
Decades of
conservation efforts have included the banning of giant panda poaching their hides
were considered a commodity as well as the creation of the panda reserve
system. The status update is
good news for the animals, but it doesn’t mean that pandas are safe. In the
next 80 years, climate change could destroy more than 35 percent of bamboo
forests, where pandas live on a bamboo-only diet. That would definitely have
consequences for their conservation.
The pandas have been
on the endangered list since 1990. But china has been aware of their decline
since the 1960s.
(Sourced from associated press)
Blog submission by Kenny McClellan
