Eats shoots and rarely breeds: giant pandas ‘still at risk’
Maintaining genetic diversity and habitats amid climate change are just some of the challenges mainland researchers are facing
The giant panda may have been taken off the endangered species list, but the animal still faces a plethora of risks including epidemics and climate change, Chinese breeding centres say.
Every morning, with the dawn light shimmering on their patchy coats the young residents of a panda breeding centre in southwestern China shred their favourite breakfast – bamboo.
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding was set up in 1987 when the animals were considered to be under increasing threat of extinction – a catastrophic scenario that seems to have been avoided for now.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last week reclassified the giant panda from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on its “Red List” of threatened species.
There were 1,864 adult giant pandas in the wild in China in 2014, a 17 per cent increase in 10 years, according to the IUCN.
“It is a positive message, it’s not all gloom and doom,” said James Ayala, a researcher at the base, in Sichuan province. “But I still think it is too early to consider it a true success ... we’re not in the clear yet.
Giant pandas taken off global ‘endangered’ list as population rebounds
“It’s like if your great grandma gets out of intensive care, you don’t celebrate, she’s still very old, very weak, and the chance of seeing her back in care is very likely.”