There’s some amazing news about giant pandas that’s totally worth celebrating

Even though baby pandas might look a little creepy, we totally love the little critters and their naughty antics.  Whether it’s eating cake or causing mischief, we just love pandas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsc3wg3CmmI

Now we’ve just heard some AMAZING news about giant pandas and it’s definitely cause of celebration.

After decades of conservation efforts, giant pandas are no longer considered an endangered species.

Due to a population increase in China, giant pandas are now considered a vulnerable species.

The news was broken by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as part of an update on their Red List, which was set up as a comprehensive approach to evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.

According to the BBC, the conservation effort by China to help save their national animal has seen the population of giant pandas rise to 1,864 adults.

YASSSS.

In a report released, the IUCN said, “Evidence from a series of range-wide national surveys indicate that the previous population decline has been arrested, and the population has started to increase.

“The improved status confirms that the Chinese government’s efforts to conserve this species are effective.” 

Despite this happy news, however, the IUCN warned that this uptake in the panda population could be short lived due to concerns surround climate change. “[The] panda population is projected to decline, reversing the gains made during the last two decades,” the report read.

Continuing, the report said that the only way to help conserve this iconic species would be to ensure that forest protection measures are continued and that “emerging threats are addressed.”

Sadly, the IUCN report did detail some worrying new concerns.

According to the report, the eastern gorilla, the world’s largest primate, is now endangered, with 70% of the population declining in the past 20 years. This means that four of the six largest apes on the planet are now all endangered.

Despite this, it’s definitely worth celebrating the amazing news about Giant Pandas.

Speaking to AFP news agency (via BBC), John Robinson, a primatologist and chief conservation officer at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said that, despite this, it was still a massive win that giant pandas had increased in population at all.

“So few species are actually downlisted, it really is a reflection of the success of conservation,” he said.