Editing Giant panda (section)

==Conservation==
The giant panda is a [[vulnerable species]], threatened by continued [[habitat destruction|habitat loss]] and [[habitat fragmentation|fragmentation]],<ref name="climate-change"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Swaisgood |first1=Ronald R. |last2=Wei |first2=Fuwen |last3=Wildt |first3=David E. |last4=Kouba |first4=Andrew J. |last5=Zhang |first5=Zejun |date=2010-04-23 |title=Giant panda conservation science: how far we have come |journal=Biology Letters |language=en |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=143–145 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2009.0786 |pmid=19864275 |pmc=2865067 |issn=1744-9561}}</ref> and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in [[captivity (animal)|captivity]].<ref name="Britannica Earth"/> Its range is confined to a small portion on the western edge of its historical range, which stretched through southern and eastern China, northern [[Myanmar]], and northern [[Vietnam]]. The species is scattered into more than 30 subpopulations of relatively few animals. Building of roads and human settlement near panda habitat, result in population declines. Diseases from domesticated pets and livestock is another threat. By 2100, it is estimated that the distribution of giant pandas will shrink by up to 100%, mainly due to the effects of [[climate change]].<ref name="iucn" /> The giant panda is listed on [[CITES Appendix I]], meaning trade of their parts is prohibited and that they require this protection to avoid [[extinction]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 August 1983 |title=Giant panda |url=https://cites.org/eng/gallery/species/mammal/giant_panda.html |access-date=27 April 2024 |website=CITES}}</ref> They have been protected and placed in category 1, by the [[Wildlife Protection Act|1988 Wildlife Protection Act]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reid |first=Donald G. |date=1994 |title=The Focus and Role of Biological Research in Giant Panda Conservation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3872681 |journal=Bears: Their Biology and Management |volume=9 |pages=23–33 |doi=10.2307/3872681 |jstor=3872681 |issn=1936-0614}}</ref> 

The giant panda has been a target of poaching by locals since ancient times and by foreigners since it was introduced to the West. Starting in the 1930s, foreigners were unable to poach giant pandas in China because of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and the [[Chinese Civil War]], but pandas remained a source of soft furs for the locals. The population boom in China after 1949 created stress on the pandas' habitat and the subsequent famines led to the increased hunting of wildlife, including pandas. After the [[Chinese economic reform]], demand for panda skins from Hong Kong and Japan led to illegal poaching for the [[underground economy|black market]], acts generally ignored by the local officials at the time. In 1963, the PRC government set up [[Wolong National Nature Reserve]] to save the declining panda population.<ref name="about">{{cite web|url=http://www.chinawolong.com/doce/about.htm|title=About Wolong |publisher=Wolong National Natural Reserve|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201172138/https://www.chinawolong.com/doce/about.htm|archive-date=1 December 2006 |date=7 May 2005}}</ref>

[[File:Panda Cub from Wolong, Sichuan, China.JPG|thumb|right|Close-up of a seven-month-old panda cub]]

The giant panda is among the world's most adored and protected rare animals, and is one of the few in the world whose natural inhabitant status was able to gain a [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] designation. The [[Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries]], located in the southwest province of [[Sichuan]] and covering seven natural reserves, were inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 2006.<ref name="BBCheritage">{{cite news |title=Pandas gain world heritage status |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5174854.stm |access-date=17 January 2020 |publisher=BBC |date=12 July 2006 |archive-date=25 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125064132/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5174854.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="WWFheritage">{{cite news |last1=Benn |first1=Joanna |title=Panda sanctuary in China added to World Heritage list |url=https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?76460/Panda-sanctuary-in-China-added-to-World-Heritage-list |access-date=17 January 2020 |publisher=WWF |date=13 July 2006 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801013814/https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?76460%2FPanda-sanctuary-in-China-added-to-World-Heritage-list |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="unescowhc">{{cite web |title=Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries – Wolong, Mt Siguniang and Jiajin Mountains |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1213/ |publisher=Unesco WHC |access-date=17 January 2020 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129200315/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1213/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2015 paper found that the giant panda can serve as an [[umbrella species]] as the preservation of their habitat also helps other [[endemic species]] in China, including 70% of the country's forest birds, 70% of mammals and 31% of amphibians.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Pimm, Stuart L. |author2=Li, Binbin V. |year=2015|title=China's endemic vertebrates sheltering under the protective umbrella of the giant panda|journal=Conservation Biology|doi=10.1111/cobi.12618|pmid=26332026 |volume=30|issue=2 |pages=329–339|s2cid=34750531 }}</ref>

In 2012, [[Earthwatch Institute]], a global nonprofit that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important environmental research, launched a program called "On the Trail of Giant Panda". This program, based in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, allows volunteers to work up close with pandas cared for in captivity, and help them adapt to life in the wild, so that they may breed, and live longer and healthier lives.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.earthwatch.org/exped/zhang.html |title=Earthwatch: On the Trail of Giant Panda |access-date=24 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301032825/http://www.earthwatch.org/exped/zhang.html |archive-date=1 March 2012 }}</ref> Efforts to preserve the panda bear populations in China have come at the expense of other animals in the region, including snow leopards, wolves, and dholes.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Jessie Yeung|title=China's focus on panda conservation has come at the cost of other species: study|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/asia/china-panda-conservation-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|access-date=16 August 2020|website=CNN|date=4 August 2020 |archive-date=13 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813225811/https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/asia/china-panda-conservation-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In order to improve living and mating conditions for the fragmented populations of pandas, nearly 70 natural reserves have been combined to form the [[Giant Panda National Park]] in 2020. With a size of 10,500 square miles, the park is roughly three times as large as [[Yellowstone National Park]] and incorporates the [[Wolong National Nature Reserve]]. Small, isolated populations run the risk of inbreeding and smaller genetic variety makes the individuals more vulnerable to various defects and genetic [[mutation]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=China's National Panda Park Will Be Three Times the Size of Yellowstone|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chinas-national-panda-park-will-be-three-times-size-yellowstone-180972158/|access-date=2021-03-31|archive-date=19 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419150208/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chinas-national-panda-park-will-be-three-times-size-yellowstone-180972158/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Population ===

In 2006, scientists reported that the number of pandas living in the wild may have been underestimated at about 1,000. Previous population surveys had used conventional methods to estimate the size of the wild panda population, but using a new method that analyzes [[DNA]] from panda [[Feces|droppings]], scientists believed the wild population were as large as 3,000.<ref name="Britannica Earth" /> In 2006, there were 40 panda reserves in China, compared to just 13 reserves in 1998.<ref name="BBC_06-07">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5085006.stm |title=Hope for future of giant panda |work=BBC News |date=20 June 2006 |access-date=14 February 2007 |first=Helen |last=Briggs |archive-date=27 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127095710/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5085006.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> As the species has been reclassified from "endangered" to "vulnerable" since 2016, the conservation efforts are thought to be working. Furthermore, in response to this reclassification, the [[State Forestry Administration of the People's Republic of China|State Forestry Administration of China]] announced that they would not accordingly lower the conservation level for panda, and would instead reinforce the conservation efforts.<ref>[http://www.forestry.gov.cn/main/195/content-902929.html The Panda is still endangered species, and the conservation efforts still need to be reinforced] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913153155/http://www.forestry.gov.cn/main/195/content-902929.html |date=13 September 2016 }} ''State Forestry Administration of the People's Republic of China'' (in Chinese)</ref>

In 2020, the panda population of the new national park was already above 1,800 individuals, which is roughly 80 percent of the entire panda population in China. Establishing the new protected area in the [[Sichuan|Sichuan Province]] also gives various other endangered or threatened species, like the [[Siberian tiger]], the possibility to improve their living conditions by offering them a habitat.<ref>{{Cite web|title=China forges ahead with ambitious national park plan|website=[[National Geographic Society]]|date=27 August 2020|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/china-new-national-park-system|access-date=2021-03-31|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303001312/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/china-new-national-park-system}}</ref> Other species who benefit from the protection of their habitat include the [[snow leopard]], the [[golden snub-nosed monkey]], the [[red panda]] and the [[complex-toothed flying squirrel]].<ref name="No longer endangered"/>

In July 2021, Chinese conservation authorities announced that giant pandas are no longer endangered in the wild following years of conservation efforts, with a population in the wild exceeding 1,800.<ref name="No longer endangered">{{Cite web|title=Giant pandas no longer endangered in the wild, China announces|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=9 July 2021|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/09/giant-pandas-no-longer-endangered-in-the-wild-china-announces|access-date=2021-07-11|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711055255/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/09/giant-pandas-no-longer-endangered-in-the-wild-china-announces|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Conservation efforts have saved China's giant pandas from the endangered species list|website=[[CBS News]]|date=10 July 2021 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/giant-pandas-off-endangered-species-list-china/|access-date=2021-07-11|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711055254/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/giant-pandas-off-endangered-species-list-china/|url-status=live}}</ref> China has received international praise for its conservation of the species, which has also helped the country establish itself as a leader in endangered species conservation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State |date=2020 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-74791-0 |editor-last=Esarey |editor-first=Ashley |location=Seattle |jstor=j.ctv19rs1b2 |editor-last2=Haddad |editor-first2=Mary Alice |editor-last3=Lewis |editor-first3=Joanna I. |editor-last4=Harrell |editor-first4=Stevan}}</ref>{{Rp|page=8}}