Giant pandas need protection so do other species

On Sept 4, the International Union for Conservation of Nature downgraded the giant panda from "endangered" to "vulnerable" on its red list of threatened species, because the wild stocks of the species have been recovering. By the end of 2013, China had 1,864 giant pandas in the wild, 67 percent more than the number (1,114) from 1985 to 1988. The number of captive giant pandas, too, increased, from 164 to 375.

Yet the State Forestry Administration responded that the giant panda is still under threat and its habitats remain fragmented, so it is too early to be declared "vulnerable", a better conservation status than "endangered".

Many media outlets have highlighted the spat with headlines such as "IUCN and China's forestry administration quarrel over giant panda", ignoring the fact that both the IUCN and SFA admit the species needs protection, and they only differ on the degree of threat it faces.