There’s been some good news for the Giant Pandas at last as, after years of losing out in the conservational game, the monochrome bamboo-munchers have climbed out of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, thereby changing their official ecological status from “endangered” to “vulnerable.”
Thanks mainly to the efforts of China, who claim the Giant Panda as their national animal, the IUCN’s latest estimates appear to show a panda populous of around 2,000 animals.
"Evidence from a series of range-wide national surveys indicate that the previous population decline has been arrested, and the population has started to increase," said the IUCN's updated report. "The improved status confirms that the Chinese government's efforts to conserve this species are effective.”
However, it’s not all good news. Climate change is predicted to wipe out a third of the panda’s natural bamboo habitat in the next 80 years, effectively “reversing the gains made during the last two decades.”
And alongside this, whilst the panda has climbed out of the endangered list, the eastern gorilla has moved in the opposite direction, with just 5,000 animals left across the world – a decline of more than 70% over the past twenty years.
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Instagram Image from @wellwellwellru & @dalia.assi
