China insists the giant panda should remain on the endangered list
We may have celebrated the giant panda no longer being endangered, but China wants them to stay on the list.
On Sunday, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reclassified the furry black-and-white bears from "endangered" to "vulnerable," meaning giant pandas are less likely to go extinct.
While this seems like reward for decades of conservation work done in China and in other countries, China says downgrading the giant panda's status may lead to less effort spent protecting the species.
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The government's State Forestry Administration said in a statement on Tuesday that the decision by the international conservation group comes "too soon."
It said the giant pandas live in isolated habitats scattered around Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, and don't come into contact with each other -- lowering the chances of reproduction.
The agency added that climate change is also threatening the bamboo forests which make up nearly the entire diet of the giant panda.
如果降低其保护等级，保护工作出现怠慢和松懈，大熊猫种群和栖息地都将遭到不可逆的损失和破坏，已取得的保护成果会很快丧失，特别是部分局域小种群随时可能灭绝。
Translated, that says: "If you lower the level of protection, there might be neglect, the giant panda population and habitats will suffer irreversible losses, the achievements we've made so far will be lost, and smaller populations (of giant pandas) could face extinction without warning."
The IUCN's decision came because it said the giant panda population rose by 17 percent between 2004 and 2014. Roughly 2,060 giant pandas exist today, it reported.
Besides conservation work to preserve its indigenous bear, China has for centuries used the giant panda to improve diplomatic ties with other countries by sending them as gifts or lending them to international zoos.
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Smaller Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia have gone so far as to build special zoo enclosures dedicated to the precious symbols of political friendship. Malaysia's two pandas are on loan for 10 years, and the country pays China $600,000 for each panda cub born before sending the cub back to China when it is two years old.
The cost to maintain the pandas is around RM60,000 ($14,773) a month in Malaysia.
Singapore's River Safari zoo which houses the panda enclosure was built in anticipation of the pandas arriving, and opened in 2012 after a S$160 million ($118 million) construction.
The two pandas in the zoo are due to head back to China in 2022, after a similar 10-year loan as Malaysia.
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
