Giant pandas are endangered anymore, so does that make it OK to hunt them?
- 8 years ago
BEIJING — Giant pandas are not an endangered species anymore, thanks to China’s attempts to preserve their habitat and replant forests.
According to conservationists, the Chinese government’s efforts have been so successful that pandas are now breeding like, er ... rabbits?
Around 2,000 pandas now live in the wild, an increase of 17 percent in the last decade, the Daily Telegraph reported.
That means the species has been reclassified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which probably makes it OK to hunt them.
But not so fast. The IUCN said climate change will likely destroy 35 percent of the panda’s habitat, so the population gains could be wiped out.
The World Wildlife Fund said the the increase in numbers was “hugely encouraging” and “cause for celebration.”
But it’s not all good news for the world’s most endangered species.
The IUCN said both eastern and western gorillas, along with orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra are no longer just “endangered”, they’re now “critically endangered”.
This means there are currently so few of them in the wild that they’ll probably go completely extinct. That is, unless humans intervene with captive breeding programmes to help boost their numbers.
According to conservationists, the Chinese government’s efforts have been so successful that pandas are now breeding like, er ... rabbits?
Around 2,000 pandas now live in the wild, an increase of 17 percent in the last decade, the Daily Telegraph reported.
That means the species has been reclassified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which probably makes it OK to hunt them.
But not so fast. The IUCN said climate change will likely destroy 35 percent of the panda’s habitat, so the population gains could be wiped out.
The World Wildlife Fund said the the increase in numbers was “hugely encouraging” and “cause for celebration.”
But it’s not all good news for the world’s most endangered species.
The IUCN said both eastern and western gorillas, along with orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra are no longer just “endangered”, they’re now “critically endangered”.
This means there are currently so few of them in the wild that they’ll probably go completely extinct. That is, unless humans intervene with captive breeding programmes to help boost their numbers.