serious news for elephantine pandas ( and the people who get laid them ): the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) no longer considers them to be an endangered species , LiveScience reports .
On Sunday , September 4 , IUCN announced updates to itsRed List of Threatened Species , a comprehensive stock list that detail the ball-shaped conservation status of various animal , plants , and fungi metal money . According to the organization , the giant panda ’s population numbers have increased enough for the group to downgrade the coinage as “ vulnerable . "
Wild giant pandas mostly live in China ’s bamboo forests . Threats including poaching and human - have home ground destruction — which drives animals from their domicile and also stimulate intellectual nourishment shortages — press the giant panda to the brink of extinction . But due to late timberland auspices and re-afforestation measures , things are look up : A nationwide nose count conduct in 2014 found that China ’s wild population of grownup giant pandas now numbers1864 — a dramatic increase from 1596 in 2004 . Add cub to the intermixture , and the act rises to 2060 .
Thanks in part to the World Wildlife Fund ’s iconic logotype , few endangered coinage are more placeable than the endearing giant Ailuropoda melanoleuca . But the WWF should n’t consider changing its mascot just yet : Even though its universe is rebound , the IUCN tell that the Ailuropoda melanoleuca ’s habitat and food sources are still threatened by climate change . More than 35 percent of its bamboo habitat could vanish over the next century , they warn .
“ Whereas the conclusion to downlist the giant panda to vulnerable is a positive sign confirming that the Chinese government ’s efforts to conserve this coinage are effectual , it is critically important that these protective measures are retain , and that emerging threats are addressed , ” the IUCN ’s news report concluded .
harmonize toThe New York Times , the Tibetan antelope was also remove from the IUCN ’s “ endangered ” list — but other animate being did n’t fare so well . The eastern Gorilla gorilla is now closer to extinction , and the knit zebra is “ near threatened ” due to hunting .
[ Planck’s constant / tLiveScience ]
Know of something you think we should get over ? e-mail us attips@mentalfloss.com .
