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Giant Panda Off Endangered List, But The Eastern Gorilla’s Fate Worsens Due To Congo’s Civil War

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 08:02 PST, Sep 5, 2016

Animal conservationists have been rejoicing because the giant panda has been officially taken off the endangered list. However, on the other side of the world, the eastern gorilla is on the brink of extinction due to the continued civil war that has ravaged Congo.

While the giant panda’s steady recovery has been welcome news from the animal kingdom, the eastern gorilla’s alarming drop in numbers has raised doubt about the survival of the species. According to the report compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) titled “Red List of Threatened Species,” the giant panda may be off the endangered list, but it is still at risk from multiple threats. However, the giant gorilla could be wiped out within the next few years if the rampant poaching in the Congo isn’t addressed on urgent basis.

The giant panda’s resurgence is mainly due to focused conservation efforts. Continuous and intensified programs were incorporated to protect the creature’s natural habitat and help rebuild it. The efforts have allowed the population of the giant panda to rise more than 17 percent between 2004 and 2014, permitting IUCN to take the animal off from the endangered list. However, the giant panda is still listed as vulnerable.

Statistically, a 2014 census found 1,864 giant pandas living in China’s forests. Way back in 2004, only 1,596 pandas were recorded, confirmed IUCN in its report. The giant panda is a native to China. It has been deeply embedded in Chinese culture and is often revered in the local culture. The docile, gentle, and strictly vegetarian creature was once found in abundance in the region.

However, rapid reduction of its natural habitat for urbanization, construction, and illegal mining slashed the population of giant pandas. Driven out of their homes and starved to death, the giant pandas quickly climbed the endangered species list. The panda was extensively hunted for its velvety skin, which was used to make giant rugs. These rugs were highly sought after not only in China but were extensively traded in the international market.

China took a serious note of the decline in the population of giant panda after the 1970 census indicated only 2,459 of the furry creatures with bewitching eyes existed in the world. The country started high-profile awareness campaigns to help the species recover before it went extinct. The enactment of the 1988 Wildlife Protection Law banned poaching and conferred the highest protected status to the animal.

While many are jubilant about the recovery of the giant panda, animal conservationists have been trying to draw international attention and aid towards the eastern gorilla on the brink of extinction in Congo. Once commonly found in the mountainous forests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, northwest Rwanda, and southwest Uganda, the gorillas are being mercilessly slaughtered. Caught in the barbaric civil war, the gorillas are being hunted in large numbers.

In just the last two decades, the population of the eastern gorilla has plummeted by more than 70 percent. Despite comprising of two subspecies, fewer than 5,000 gorillas are believed to be surviving in the wild. The Grauer’s gorilla, one of the subspecies, lost 77 percent of its population since 1994. The other subspecies, the mountain gorilla, has a population of just 880.

The alarming reduction in their numbers has bumped them up on the endangered species list. Their classification has been revised to critically endangered. Researchers fear if the killing isn’t halted, the remaining population may not be enough to ensure the survival of the species. The revision essentially means four of the six of the great apes are critically endangered today.

One of the closest genetic relatives to humans, these apes are hunted for bushmeat and captured for commercial trade when not being driven out by illegal mining activities, pointed out ICUN.

[Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images]

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