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Are pandas endangered?
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Photograph of a giant panda eating bamboo leaves.
A giant panda chewing on bamboo leaves Pandas are unique in possessing a carnivore gut while relying on a bamboo-based diet. Depleting bamboo forests pose a threat to the survival of these animals.

Are pandas endangered?

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Giant pandas, more commonly called pandas, are currently listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. After being classified as endangered for nearly three decades, their status was changed to “vulnerable” in 2016 by the IUCN. However, the threats they face have not been completely mitigated. The animal is still at risk primarily from the degradation and loss of their habitat. Harvest of timber, construction of railways, roadways, and dams, and agricultural activities have converted large areas of undisturbed land into areas unsuitable for panda habitation. In particular these activities have significantly reduced the bamboo forests that pandas rely on for survival. Bamboo constitutes 90–98 percent of the diet of pandas. Periodic mass flowering and die-offs of bamboo along with the long recovery time (5–10 years) of bamboo forests threaten to starve panda populations. In addition, while declaring that the pandas had cleared the endangered status, the IUCN predicted that climate change is likely to be a threat to the panda’s habitat and diet.

Human activities and encroachment into panda habitats also increase the risk of poaching and accidental snaring. Additionally, human activities can lead to conflicts with pandas, as pandas may wander into human settlements in search of food, leading to potential harm to both pandas and humans. Besides, a fragmented habitat isolates panda populations and interferes with finding mates, adding to the challenges posed by habitat loss and climate change.

Despite these challenges, there have been significant conservation efforts to protect pandas and their habitats. China has expanded its reserve system and implemented international agreements to support panda conservation. The result of these committed actions is an increase in the wild population of the giant panda from 1,114 in the 1980s to 1,864 in 2014.

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