News

Giant panda no longer endangered

6 September 2016

By Lauren E. White

Thanks to impressive conservation efforts in China for over a decade, the giant panda is no longer a critically endangered species.

The number of giant pandas has increased by 16.8% in the past ten years and there are thought to be approximately 2,000 adults and cubs. While this means they are no longer on the brink of extinction, the much-loved species is still facing the very real threat of future deforestation and climate change.

It is of course good news for the panda but certainly not for the urang-utans of Malaysia and Indonesia. Just last month, the Bornean orang-utan was declared critically endangered with scientists predicting that the species – which shares 96.4% of its DNA with humans – will be extinct within the next ten years.

Special breeding programmes, the plantation of bamboo and protection of bamboo forests is said to be the reason for the update on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.

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