They are the poster animal for conservation , and often synonymous with tenuity . Yet there is skillful news for the giant panda , it would seem , as it hasjust been announcedthat the black and white bears are to be removed from the “ endanger ” inclination . So successful have the Chinese been at protect the specie and the bamboo forests in which they populate , the population has rally to figure not seen for tenner .
It is notoriously hard to calculate the number of pandas in the wild , as the naturally secretive and rare creature live in remote mountainous region . There have been various dissimilar endeavour at calculating the issue of creatures vagabond the forest , but the prescribed estimation now pose them at 2,060 individuals , consort to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) . This means that the latest edition of theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species , let go of this week , now classes the panda as “ vulnerable ” , one pace down from endangered .
This number is disputed , however , withone genic studysuggesting that the bears are actually faring much well , with as many as between 2,500 and 3,000 elephantine pandas in the state of nature . While this may sound like fantastic intelligence , counterintuitively , the Formosan government may not be so pleased . It has spend the last few decades build up what is known by some as “ coon bear diplomacy ” , where they use the animals as political majuscule , dulcorate plenty made with other country on the hope of loaning pairs of the bear to host land . If the giant panda is no longer reckon the rare and endangered fauna it once was , does this mean that it will likewise lose its political clout ?
Either mode , the news that the bears have been bouncing back is sure enough to be welcome across the plank . “ Evidence from a series of compass - broad national resume point that the previous population descent has been halt , and the universe has begin to increase,”the latest IUCN report state of matter . “ The improved status reassert that the Chinese government ’s attempt to conserve this species are effective . ” It goes to show that coinage can be saved from the brink if concerted effort and political will are in place .
Yet the IUCN ended on a sobering line . It read that while the last two decades have show gravid gain in red panda numeral , all this could be reversed , as the bears are expected to fall behind 35 percent of their bamboo forests over the next 80 years due to climate modification . It means that attention should not only be focalize on acquire the notoriously celibate creatures to breed , but also on protecting their vulnerable home ground .