[Animals] The giant panda is no longer endangered: how did China save its "national treasure"?

[MosterOfficial ☆]

They are cute, adorable, and no longer on the brink of extinction. Pandas are no longer classified as such by Chinese authorities, but they remain vulnerable, they warn. The classification has been lowered because their number in the wild has reached at least 1,800 specimens. Experts say the country has managed to save its iconic animal thanks to its long-term conservation efforts, including expanding its habitats.

 

The latest update of the classification "reflects the improvement of their living conditions and China's efforts to maintain their integrated habitats," said Cui Shuhong, head of the Department of Nature Conservation and Ecology at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in a press conference.

The new classification comes years after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) already removed this animal from its list of endangered species and re-classified it as "vulnerable" in 2016. At the time, Chinese officials questioned the decision, warning that it could lead people to believe that conservation efforts could be relaxed. But how exactly did China save these formidable animals?

 

China has been trying for years to increase the po[CENSORED]tion of the giant panda. These animals were once widespread throughout the south and east of the country, but due to human po[CENSORED]tion expansion and development, they are now limited to areas that still contain bamboo forests. The success is due to Chinese efforts to recreate and repo[CENSORED]te bamboo forests. Bamboo makes up about 99% of their diet, without which they are likely to starve. Pandas must eat between 12 and 38 kg of bamboo a day to meet their energy needs. "It's about restoring habitats," Craig Hilton-Taylor, director of the IUCN Red List, told the BBC. "The mere act of restoring the panda's habitat has given them back their space and provided them with food." The loss of habitats caused the number of pandas to drop to just over 1,200 in the 1980s, according to the specialist.

"We must recover the bamboo and little by little the number of pandas will begin to recover," he says. Ginette Hemley, senior vice president for wildlife conservation at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), agreed. "The Chinese have done a great job investing in panda habitats, expanding and creating new reserves," Hemley said. "They are a wonderful example of what can happen when a government commits to conservation." However, this success could be short-lived. Climate change is expected to wipe out more than a third of the panda's bamboo habitat in the next 80 years. "With climate change, it's going to be too hot for bamboo to grow," explained Hilton-Taylor. Pandas are highly dependent on bamboo for food and the loss of it does not make things very promising for them. "

 

Many Chinese zoos and facilities have opted for giant panda breeding in captivity, sometimes using artificial insemination methods. Keeping animals in captivity is like an insurance policy, "says Hilton-Taylor." But we don't want to keep them in captivity forever. " The ultimate goal of most captive breeding programs is to return the animals to the wild.

Animals