The Giant Panda has been on the list of endangered species for years. As most of them are in China, the government there has gone to great lengths to help preserve these cuddly black and white animals. Many of them were raised in zoos while some live in protected areas in the wild.
Just recently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature or IUCN declared that they’re no longer an endangered species. Instead, they’re now classified under the “Red List of Threatened Species.” Bamboo forests, the panda’s natural habitat, are still greatly threatened by climate change, however. So while this is excellent news about the Giant Panda, it is also a cautionary tale.
In 2003, there were approximately 1600 Giant Pandas in the wild.
By 2014, that number had increased by about 17 percent.
As of 2016, there are now 2060 Giant Pandas in the wild.
According to the IUCN, the efforts of the Chinese government to protect the animal have proven to be very effective.
1864 of them are adults.
However, their natural habitat is threatened by climate change, and as a result, their number is expected to decrease in the next 80 years.
(via BoredPanda)
The efforts to protect the Giant Panda from extinction have worked thus far. However, they’re still threatened by poachers hoping to make money off of them as well as global warming which threatens to destroy their natural habitat. What kind of person hunts this guy?
