On Sept. 4, the International Union for Conservation of Nation announced that after 32 years, giant pandas are no longer endangered. However, although pandas have been removed from the endangered species list, they are still considered vulnerable, which is only a step up from being endangered. 

As the national symbol of China, giant pandas have been put in conservatories in order to protect them against hunting and deforestation of their habitats.

Although the Chinese government has been successful in growing the pandas’ population, the IUCN is concerned “climate change could destroy more than 35 percent of the animal’s bamboo habitat in the next 80 years, leaving its future in doubt.”

Every day, pandas spend 10-16 hours a day just foraging and digesting 20-40 pounds of bamboo, making the conservation efforts critically important in order to keep giant pandas off the endangered species list.

Another obstacle that pandas will have to overcome is their reproduction rates. Pandas are only fertile once a year for 2-3 days, making it difficult for conservatories to regulate the pregnancies and births of panda cubs.

Currently, there are over 67 panda conservatories residing in China. The government has put in 30 years of dedicated work into saving the pandas; however, the government is not quite as optimistic as the United States seems to be. 

“It is too early to conclude that pandas are actually increasing in the wild — perhaps we are simply getting better at counting wild pandas,” explained Marc Brody, an adviser for conservation and sustainable development in China.

As of two weeks ago, the giant panda count is still right under 2,000, not including the cubs under the age of 18 months.

And while the population count is not as large as some would hope, it is still considered a victory from when only 800-1000 pandas existed in the 1980s-1990s.

Conservation for not only pandas, but for every other endangered species is a long-term endeavor that will have to be maintained in order for the population to continue rising. 

Conservationists agree that they must continue doing all that is possible to decrease deforestation as well as any and all illegal hunting.