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

 

经过动物保护工作者几十年的努力，大熊猫不再是濒危物种了。

 

The official status of the much-loved animal has been changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable" because of a population rebound¹ 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 gorilla², the world's largest primate³, is now endangered.

 

Efforts by China, which claims the giant panda as its national animal, have brought its numbers back from the brink⁴. The latest estimates show a population of 1,864 adults.

 

There are no exact figures for the numbers of cubs⁵, 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 conserve⁶ 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.

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