[Shaun]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-37272718

The giant panda is no longer an endangered species, following decades of work by conservationists to save it.

The official status of the much-loved animal has been changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable" because of a population rebound in China.

The change was announced as part of an update to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

But the update also brought bad news. The eastern gorilla, the world's largest primate, is now endangered.

Efforts by China, which claims the giant panda as its national animal, have brought its numbers back from the brink. The latest estimates show a population of 1,864 adults.

There are no exact figures for the numbers of cubs, but estimates bring the total number of giant pandas to 2,060.

"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," said the IUCN's updated report.

"The improved status confirms that the Chinese government's efforts to conserve this species are effective," it added.

But the rebound could be short-lived, the IUCN warned. Climate change is predicted to wipe out more than one-third of the panda's bamboo habitat in the next 80 years.

"And thus panda population is projected to decline, reversing the gains made during the last two decades," the report said.

It added: "To protect this iconic species, it is critical that the effective forest protection measures are continued and that emerging threats are addressed."

John Robinson, a primatologist and chief conservation officer at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told the AFP news agency: "When push comes to shove, the Chinese have done a really good job with pandas.

"So few species are actually downlisted, it really is a reflection of the success of conservation," he told the AFP news agency."

A surge of illegal hunting has taken the eastern gorilla in the other direction, reducing its numbers to just 5,000 across the globe.

Four out of six of the Earth's great apes are now critically endangered - the eastern gorilla, western gorilla, Bornean orangutan and Sumatran orangutan.

"Today is a sad day because the IUCN Red List shows we are wiping out some of our closest relatives," Inger Andersen, IUCN director general, told reporters.

The number of eastern gorillas has declined more than 70% in the past two decades.

The IUCN Red List includes 82,954 species, both plants and animals. Almost one third, 23,928, are listed as being threatened with extinction.

Obviously not reflective of the thousands of other species in danger (I believe the most notable one to go fully extinct recently was the black rhino? ) but good news nonetheless...

[Cal.]

Yay

Saw some posts on my Facebook about this with people saying if they're not gonna evolve to survive better then they should die out

[Ashley.]

Heard about this yesterday, it doesn't affect me but I'm glad to see that decades of work has finally paid off.

[Vicky.]

Is it only me who wonders how on earth they 'estimate' how many of an animal there are?

This is good news anyway..hopefully arseholes don't think they now start hunting them or something

[y.winter]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

hopefully arseholes don't think they now start hunting them or something

Oh they will. That's what arseholes do.

[Samm]

[Crimson Dynamo]

great news for american dentists

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

Is it only me who wonders how on earth they 'estimate' how many of an animal there are?

This is good news anyway..hopefully arseholes don't think they now start hunting them or something

They probably do a detailed count in a small area of their natural habitat and then assume that populations figures are roughly the same across the whole habitat.

Its like TV viewing figures... They don't actually have any way to know how many people are viewing a show, they monitor a small number of households from a broad range of demographics and assume that the percentage of sample homes watching each channel is the percentage over all homes.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Cal.

Yay

Saw some posts on my Facebook about this with people saying if they're not gonna evolve to survive better then they should die out

Social Media can be so vile sometimes in an effort to be "different" and "cool" it's disgusting when it's something like this.

Anyway I'm happy that the Panda looks set to be around for at least another decade.

Ashame about the Eastern Gorilla though.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

great news for american dentists

[Denver]

Panda steaks for tea tomorrow

[Black Dagger]

lol x

[joeysteele]

I was really pleased to hear this, shows it can be done.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Shaun

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-37272718





Obviously not reflective of the thousands of other species in danger (I believe the most notable one to go fully extinct recently was the black rhino? ) but good news nonetheless...

..that pic looks as though we're making them carry big heavy trees/branches and maybe straight back on the endangered list with a heart attack or something...but yes, great news and recently twins were born as well.....

[bots]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..that pic looks as though we're making them carry big heavy trees/branches and maybe straight back on the endangered list with a heart attack or something...but yes, great news and recently twins were born as well.....

The panda is thinking ... now this is what i call a bamboo shoot

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

The panda is thinking ... now this is what i call a bamboo shoot

.....yeah, look what I'm bringing home for the pan dear tonight...

[Ammi]

..that was awful...FORGET THAT HAPPENED, bitontheslide...

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Ashley.

Heard about this yesterday, it doesn't affect me but I'm glad to see that decades of work has finally paid off.

What!? I thought you were a panda?... Are you not Ashley the panda? Awwwww

[Livia]

Great news. However, how many more species have gone on the list recently? And the fate of the African elephant hangs in the balance mostly because boneheaded Chinese people like a bit of ivory. Let's not even get started on Rhino horn....