Giant Pandas in China No Longer Extinct After Decades of Conservation

Good news! Chinese officials have announced that giant pandas are no longer endangered, thanks to the decades' work of conservation efforts that save their population in the wild.

On Wednesday, July 7, Department of Natural Ecological Protection of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment director Cui Shuhong said that the giant pandas will now be re-classified as vulnerable species.

The country's effort for over half a century in attempting to boost the animal population has created sprawling panda reserves across several mountain ranges in an effort to save them from extinction.

Conservation Efforts of China to Preserve Giant Pandas

"China has established a relatively complete nature reserves system," Cui said on Wednesday as quoted by CNN. "Large areas of natural ecosystems have been systematically and completely protected, and wildlife habitats have been effectively improved."

He added that the population of other rare or endangered species is also gradually recovering due to the conservation efforts on giant pandas. Cui pointed out that the number of Siberian tigers, Amur leopards, Asian elephants, and crested ibis has all significantly increased over the past years.

Conservation efforts of giant pandas are not easy, especially when female giant pandas are difficult to breed. They are only able to become pregnant for 24 to 72 hours each year.

But Chinese officials have launched a high-profile campaign to bring up the numbers of giant pandas. Since habitat loss is one of the problems that have caused the dwindling numbers of pandas, authorities then built a specially designed nature reserve in areas where giant pandas are near bamboos, which are the main food source.

Officials announced in 2017 that the country plans for a 10,476-square-mile reserve for the giant pandas, which is three times larger than the Yellowstone National Park.

Giant Pandas No Longer in the Endangered Species List

The status of giant pandas has been updated to "vulnerable," according to local news outlet Xinhua Net. By the end of 2015, there are already 1,864 giant pandas living in the wild, which is a significant increase from the 1,100 giant pandas that were living in the wild by the year 2000 in which there are also 422 living giant pandas in captivity.

But internationally, giant pandas have been in that classification for five years already since the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) removed the giant pandas from the list of endangered species in 2016.

China, however, did not accept this classification at that time. China's State Forestry Administration told the Associated Press in 2016 that downgrading their conservation efforts or relaxing or neglecting conservation works o the populations and habitats of giant pandas could cause irreversible loss and will quickly make their achievements lost.

They emphasized that their decision of not accepting the reclassification at that time was not being alarmist but they are only continuing their efforts to solve the crisis of the giant panda population.

This year, China has finally announced that giant pandas are no longer endangered species. But noted that their efforts of preserving them are not over as their main food source is still in danger from climate change.

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