Giant panda no longer endangered, but not out of the woods

Tuesday, September 6, 2016, 3:26 PM - There's good news for panda fans today, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has moved them off the endangered species list.

The animal, which has sat at the 'endangered' mark on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1990, has been downlisted to 'vulnerable', per a report released over the weekend.

The report cites the efforts of China's State Forestry Administration to both protect forests, and carry out reforestation, saying the increase in forest cover in the country had contributed to a nearly 12 per cent increase in occupied habitat for the animals, with another 6 per cent increase in suitable territory that pandas had yet to inhabit.

Map of panda habitat, both inhabited and potential. Courtesy IUCN.

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While the reclassification is good news for the animal's recovery, the IUCN was quick to point out that it doesn't constitute total victory in the war against extinction. According to the report, climate change is expected to eliminate more than 35 per cent of the panda's bamboo habitat in the next 80 years. The agency calls it "critically important" that the Chinese government's conservation efforts continue.

For its part, the China State Forestry Administration agrees; in fact, they were opposed to the reclassification. Speaking to the Associated Pres, the government agency said it disputed the change because "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."

Protected forest areas in China currently span 1.4 million hectares.

Sources: IUCN | New York Times | The Verge | Associated Press |

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