Good news for the Giant Panda. The population has grown - conservation
— IUCN Red List (@IUCNRedList) September 4, 2016
action works! https://t.co/Yn2uTcEWhJ pic.twitter.com/7ml13vAYgw
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced this September that the population of the Giant Panda in the wild is growing. In the 1970s, there were as few as 1,000 pandas left on the planet. This spurred quick action by conservation organizations and zoos around the world.
Captive breeding programs, however, produced notoriously slow returns. In fact, the slow breeding cycle of the panda, and its low-nutrition diet of bamboo had many doubters saying that we should give up trying to save the species at all.
In its latest assessment of the panda, the IUCN proved them wrong, reporting at least 2,000 pandas currently living in their native habitat. The population doubled since its all-time low thanks to extensive efforts to protect its remaining habitat, where the bears breed more quickly than in captivity, and regrow bamboo forests that had been destroyed.
Toyota is funding 28,000 IUCN species assessments like this one over the next five years, and we are proud to see the results of this work. Visit Lithia Toyota of Missoula for more details on Toyota's commitment to the environment, and to test drive eco-friendly new vehicles.
