Panda Downlisted but not Out of the Woods

By R. Swaisgood, Dajun Wang, F. Wei. 2018

141 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is no longer Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) storied Red List. The decision to downlist the panda to Vulnerable has its foundation in a systematic assessment of population parameters as determined by China State Forestry Administration's circa decadal national survey and other scientific outputs, compared to standardized criteria used by IUCN to determine the status of all species. This decision has not been without controversy and disagreement, perhaps reflecting disparities between how people view the term “Endangered” and the criteria established by the IUCN. Here, we explore the architecture of recovery of this iconic “Endangered” species, make transparent the process of the IUCN downlisting decision, evaluate emerging threats to pandas on the horizon, and contemplate the meaning of this milestone for endangered species conservation. Through this revelation, we find profound reasons for hope for species conservation everywhere, and a useful example of success in the making. However, this positive message comes with measured caution. The Chinese government and conservation community must maintain its focus and investment on panda conservation, and contend with strategies to address new threats. If they do not, the panda will return to “Endangered” status once again.

Subfields: Ecological Modeling, Ecology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2a0d8f6a4772df8349241efe298a3b816b10073b

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecological Modeling

1. Wei Wei
2. R. Swaisgood
3. Zejun Zhang

In Ecology

1. Wei Wei
2. R. Swaisgood
3. Zejun Zhang

In Social Psychology

1. M. Owen
2. R. Swaisgood

Citations in the corpus

• Giant panda distributional and habitat‐use shifts in a changing landscape (2018, background): “At the same time, pandas face emerging threats, such as continued habitat fragmentation and degradation from roads and other infrastructure development and anticipated impacts of climate change (Swaisgood et al., 2017; Xu et al., 2017).”