The Giant Panda, no longer Endangered, according to IUCN

[The Larch]

Some good environmental news for a change. 

Giant pandas rebound off endangered list

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.
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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."

Sadly, there's another side of the coin:

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

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.

[celedhring]

Out of curiosity, do those population counts/estimations include just "in the wild" animals or also those housed in facilities like zoos or animal shelters?

[The Larch]

Out of curiosity, do those population counts/estimations include just "in the wild" animals or also those housed in facilities like zoos or animal shelters?

Those numbers are for estimations of wild animals only, AFAIK. The number of them in captivity is rather low, 375 back in 2013. They are really fucking expensive to maintain in zoos, five times more than elephants according to reports. Besides, US zoos have to pay a yearly fee to the Chinese government for the pandas that they keep, it used to be around one million dollars per year.

Edit: The economics of panda leasing in US zoos, from a 2006 article:

Eats Shoots, Leaves and Much of Zoos' Budgets



ATLANTA, Feb. 11 - Lun Lun and Yang Yang have needs. They require an expensive all-vegetarian diet -- 84 pounds a day, each. They are attended by a four-person entourage, and both crave privacy. Would-be divas could take notes.

But the real sticker shock comes from the annual fees that Zoo Atlanta must pay the Chinese government, $2 million a year, essentially to rent a pair of giant pandas. Giant pandas are also on loan to zoos in Washington, San Diego and Memphis.

The financial headache caused by the costly loan obligations to China has driven Dennis W. Kelly, chief executive of Zoo Atlanta, to join with the directors of the three other zoos to negotiate some budgetary breathing room. If no agreement with China can be made, Mr. Kelly said, the zoos may have to return their star attractions.

"If we can't renegotiate, they absolutely will go back," Mr. Kelly said. "Unless there are significant renegotiations, you'll see far fewer pandas in the United States at the end of this current agreement."

The San Diego Zoo's contract with China is the first to expire, in 2008. The last contract, at the Memphis Zoo, ends in 2013.

Mr. Kelly says Lun Lun and Yang Yang, Zoo Atlanta's giant pandas, are draining the zoo's coffers far faster than they can be replenished -- even though visitors flock to see them. And when people cannot make it through the gates, self-described pandaholics blog with doe-eyed ardor about the bears or stay glued to the zoos' panda Web cams.

Giant pandas are indisputably popular. Two months ago, the public snapped up 13,000 tickets to see Tai Shan, born at the National Zoo in Washington last July, in just two hours. Later that day the free tickets were being traded on eBay for as much as $200 each.
Continue reading the main story

"People will get up in the middle of the night to see the pandas," said Don Lindburg, head of the office of giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo. "I don't think there is a comparable animal. There isn't the enormity of response that you find with pandas."

But after the first year, crowds dwindle, while the expenses remain high. In fact, a panda's upkeep costs five times more than that of the next most expensive animal, an elephant.

A curator, three full-time keepers and one backup keeper care for Lun Lun and Yang Yang at Zoo Atlanta. A crew of six travels around Georgia six days a week, harvesting bamboo from 400 volunteers who grow it in their backyards. (Zoo Atlanta tried growing its own on a farm, as the Memphis Zoo does, but Lun Lun and Yang Yang turned up their noses.)

"It's crazy," Mr. Kelly said. "These bears, year-round, are some of the most pampered animals on the planet. We measure everything that goes in. We measure everything that goes out."

Then there are the contracts, most lasting 10 years. Because China retains ownership of the pandas, zoos lease each pair for $1 million a year. If cubs are born, the annual fee increases by an average of $600,000. In addition, each zoo has agreed to pay another million or so each year to finance research and conservation projects in the United States and in China. Taken together, Mr. Kelly says, the contracts are worth more than $80 million to the Chinese government.

Mr. Kelly said he hoped China would consider the request to reduce the fees because most other countries pay far less for their pandas. Australia and Thailand, he said, pay about $300,000 each year for theirs. So far, China seems amenable to considering it, he said. Chinese officials did not respond to requests for comment.

"There's a perception in China that U.S. zoos are very rich because when they come over, the zoos are beautiful," said Chuck Brady, the chief executive of the Memphis Zoo.

Zoos say they can break even on pandas, but only for the first few years.

"Year three is your break-even year," Mr. Brady said. The Memphis Zoo expects to lose about $300,000 per year on the pandas it leased in 2003. "After that, attendance drops off, and you start losing vast amounts of money. There is a resurgence in attendance when babies are born."

Because they have had cubs born, the San Diego Zoo and the National Zoo have fared better financially than Zoo Atlanta and the Memphis Zoo, which still have not had luck with their breeding programs.

"The general feeling on the American side is that when the initial negotiations were done 10 years ago, we had very little information on the impact of pandas on zoos," Mr. Brady said. "Now we're stuck with this template."

Apart from foot traffic, pandas also inspire valuable, enthusiastic corporate sponsorships. FedEx, for example, flew Ya Ya and Le Le, the pandas at the Memphis Zoo, to the United States from China in a decorated "Panda Express" plane. The public was able to track the flight on a designated FedEx Web site.

Fujifilm, Home Depot, UPS and others have donated millions to be sponsors of panda exhibits at zoos, hoping to solidify business relationships with China, which regards the animal as a national symbol.

Mr. Kelly said he expected the negotiations to progress slowly.

"They are listening. They are open. They have not responded to anything other than to say that the items that we put on the table are open to discussion," Mr. Kelly said. "They have indicated they think the zoos need to honor their current agreements before we make changes."

In the zoos' favor is that the lease program has generated important reproductive successes for a species that is critically endangered, said David L. Towne, director of the Giant Panda Conservation Foundation. Only 1,500 giant pandas are believed to be left in the wild.

For now, though, zoos with pandas do not inspire the envy they once did. "It was like having a World Series winner in your town," said Mr. Towne, who lives in Seattle. But now, he said, based purely on economics, "I've told my mayor and everyone else that the last thing we want is pandas."

[CountDeMoney]

How very Chine$e. Surprised they don't spray paint some black bears, mislabel them "Prada Bears" and charge double.

[Gups]

Why is the Eastern Gorilla endangered with a population of 5,000 but the 2,060 pandas are off the hook? Is it about the trajectory rather than the numbers?

[The Larch]

Why is the Eastern Gorilla endangered with a population of 5,000 but the 2,060 pandas are off the hook? Is it about the trajectory rather than the numbers?

Yes, it's not an absolute numbers thing, there are a host of criteria that a species can fulfill to be deemed Endangered.

Here's the list:

http://www.iucnredlist.org/static/categories_criteria_3_1

They are, basically:

- Reduction of population (there are several % and several amounts of time given, f.i. 70% over the last 10 years or 3 generations, with reversible causes)
- Reduction of habitable range
- Population of less than 2.500 mature individuals plus an additional requiriment about the tendency of decline in number of individuals.
- Population of less than 250 mature individuals with no additional requiriments.
- At least a 20% risk of extintion according to quantitative analysis within 20 years or 5 generations.

If a species fulfills at least one of those, it can be deemed Endangered. Giant Pandas would fit in the 3rd one, less than 2.500 mature individuals, were it not for their tendency on the increase.

Endangered is also one of the several conservational statuses that a species can receive. The list, from more endangered to safest, goes like this:

EXTINT SPECIES

- Extint.
- Extint in the wild.

THREATENED SPECIES

- Critically Endangered.
- Endangered.
- Vulnerable.

LOWER RISK SPECIES

- Near Threatened.
- Conservation Dependant.
- Least Concern.

So, the Giant Panda was "downgraded" from Endangered to Vulnerable. It is still within the Threatened species group, but improving.

[Monoriu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMbnCJ3GlGc